


Force's Fool

by NimTheWitch



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Displacement, Eventual Smut, F/M, Force Bond, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Loss, Luke is a closet dom, Many Worlds Interpretation, Morning Sex, Pseudoscience, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-22 06:20:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 52,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13758114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimTheWitch/pseuds/NimTheWitch
Summary: "Mission report, I don't even know what day and year.  The experiment was a success, we made it through, well, I made it through.  If you're hearing this, don't follow me.  The passage is unstable.  I can't get back now.  Tell my family...I'm sorry."The Many Worlds Interpretation states that there are an infinite number of universes, all stacked up against each other, like dominos.  What if you found a way to travel between them?  Dr. Jones found a way.  This is her story.





	1. Chapter 1

“What do you mean you don't know where she came from? We're in hyperspace, how many places could she have been?” The voice was rough and angry, and loud. It was the loud that she objected to most as it sent her head to screaming. But why was he shouting? Why did her head hurt? Where the hell was she?

That question brought her up short, her mind racing over everything that had happened before she passed out. The equipment malfunction, Suzie's hand slipping from her own, the awful screaming whine of the void around them as they tumbled. Where had she landed? Who had found her? How had they found her?

“Han, keep your voice down, she's waking up.” Another male voice, instantly recognizable now that the name had been said. Oh damn, this was gonna be a fun day. She groaned softly as the rest of her body began to wake up, each and every nerve ending sending signals of displeasure racing to her brain all at once. She rolled slowly onto her side, reaching up to pull off the jump suit's protective helmet, only to find it already gone. Had it fallen off in the transfer? 

She fought to open her eyes, snapping them shut again almost instantly as the light of the room around her stabbed into her brain. Why was it so damn bright? There was a noticeable dimming behind her eyelids and she tried again. Everything was blurry and fuzzed around the edges, but the light no longer made her gray matter scream so she gave a few test blinks to see if her vision would clear. It didn't.

“How long are we gonna sit here and do nothing with her?” Han asked, a set of black blurs turning slowly on the spot in her clouded vision let her know which were his. Another near identical set of black blurs slowly approached her, growing to a much larger black blur a moment later. 

“Until we can ask her how she got onto this ship while it was shielded and in hyperspace.” Luke's voice sounded far too close for her liking, making her muscles jump in several different directions at the same time as her confused mind tried to flee. “Hey, relax, I'm not gonna hurt you.” A gloved hand settled against the side of her face and she had to consciously remain still. What the hell was he gonna do?

A strange, breeze was the only word she could think of to describe it, passed through her mind and her vision slowly began to clear. She blinked a few more times, her eyes coming into sharp focus and she drew a shaky breath. Did he just...? She turned her face slightly, catching the tail end of a smile. Had he heard that? She drew a calming breath and pushed herself up into a cross legged sitting position.

“How the hell did you get on my ship?” Han asked, kneeling down in front of her, threat and distrust clear in his eyes. Wow, right to the point, fair enough. She drew a deep breath and forced her mind to stop racing. So what if the resident Jedi could read her mind, it wouldn't change anything and she needed to get a grip on this situation if she was ever going to make it back home.

“Let's start with an introduction.” She said, forcing far more confidence into her voice than she actually felt. It wasn't Han she was worried about, so much as the faintly growling Wookie that stood just behind him and to the left. “Droids don't pull peoples' arms out of the socket when they lose, Wookies are known to do that.” The line flashed through her mind as she watched the giant mass of fur cross his arms over his chest. “My name is Dr. Oria Jones, and I'm not from this universe.” 

She let the statement hang in the air for a moment, watching as everyone rolled it around in their mind, deciding if they liked the taste of it or not. She knew she was in for an argument when Han's tell tale smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. He didn't believe her, of course he didn't, why would he. She drew a sigh and waited for him to respond.

“Oh, well that explains everything. Ya hear that Luke, she's not from this universe.” He rolled his eyes and stood up away from her, stepping back to Chewie's side, his hand resting casually on his blaster, the threat clear. If the Wookie didn't kill her, the blaster would finish the job.

“Let me explain.” She held up a hand and drew a deep breath, launching into the story of the last two days of her life. “It started with a party, celebrating a massive scientific discovery...”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“As you all know, this is a truly historic day. Many years of research and development have led us to where we are now, and it is my honor to present two of the brilliant minds that have made it possible. Dr. Oria Jones and Dr. Suzanne Bishop.” Applause filled the cavernous laboratory as two smartly dressed women stepped up to the dark wood podium.

“Thank you Dr Martinet. Hello all.” The shorter of the two waved companionably at the gathering of men and women collected around the tables below the stage. “My colleague Dr. Bishop and I are truly honored to come before you today and say that we've done it. After five years of research and trials, not only have we proven the theory of the Many Worlds Interpretation,” this was met with a wave of applause and cheering, “but together with all of the fine men and women on this stage, we have developed a machine that will allow for travel between each and every one of them.” The cheers rose to a deafening roar as the the guests and stage presenters both reveled in the magnitude of the work they'd done. The taller of the two, Dr. Bishop, waited patiently for the cheering to die down before leaning forward into the web of microphones.

“Now onto the surprise. As most of you know, we've been cleared for a field test, but have come up short on willing participants that have the necessary qualifications, seems they are all too deep in their own research to help us out with ours.” There was a loud roll of laughter from the gathered scientists, some of which had been offered the opportunity to test the machine. “So, in lieu of any other qualified applicants, my partner and I have decided to test it out ourselves. It seems only right, given that she had the idea for it and I built the damn thing.” More laughter and several beaming smiles shined up at them. “So drink up my friends, because tomorrow, the world is gonna change forever!” Another loud round of cheering accompanied their exit from the stage as they retreated back to their seats, getting plenty of hand shakes, high fives, and firm pats on the back as they moved through the crowd.

“The world is gonna change forever? A bit theatrical don't you think Suzie?” Oria asked as they resumed their seats.

“What? I can't play to the crowd every now and again? Besides, if our test run goes well tomorrow, the world is gonna change. We did it Ori, we finally did it!” Suzie all but squeaked as she felt a rush of pure joy race through her.

“Well I won't step on your good mood, but I don't think I'll count my chickens just yet. Remember, data first, dreams second. Now I'm off, I wanna get a full eight before stepping into the unknown. Hold the rabble off while I make my escape?” She grinned as she stood, her friend giving her a sharp salute as she turned and moved quickly toward the door.

She hurried through the empty halls, her heels clicking loudly in the silence around her until, finally, she reached the parking lot. She loved her co workers, they were all great people, and brilliant scientists in their respective fields, but she'd never developed a taste for parties, and longed to get home and into something that didn't make her feel like a tube sausage.

The drive home was short, the lab wasn't that far out of town, and there was no traffic on the roads this late at night. She watched the lights of the city grow larger, blocking out the star light that was so clear above the hulking concrete body of the building she'd spent the better part of the last five years all but living in. Soon enough, the five story building she called home appeared around the corner and she pulled into her favorite spot, hurrying into the large foyer as rain began to pour.

She sighed with relief as she stepped into her small first floor domicile. She couldn't believe her luck when she'd first rented the place, that it was still open. It wasn't the largest apartment in the world, Suzie's was easily twice its size, but what it lacked in square footage it made up for in charm and creature comforts. She'd never had a place with a dishwasher before, she'd spent the first couple weeks dirtying up dishes she didn't even need just for the fun of using it, but it was the large soaked tub in the bathroom that she was craving tonight.

She stripped as she moved, kicking off the heels and throwing her small clutch onto the couch before shucking clean out of her dress. The hose and bra came next, falling to the plush carpet just outside the bathroom door. She wasted no time in turning on the water, cranking the heat up as high as it would go and dropping in a few mint sized bath bombs to dissolve while the tub filled.

While steam began to fill the room, she turned toward the mirror and surveyed herself for a moment. She'd only recently gotten down to her goal weight and was still working up to her ideal level of fitness, but the figure that met her in the mirror was finally something she was proud to look at, decorated with several colorful tattoos that she'd gotten to commemorate each step of her weight loss journey.

She smiled, making quick work of removing the dangling jewels from her ears and throat, resting them gently in the glass dish she kept on her bathroom counter, her hand reaching blindly for the large lobster clip that she used to keep her multitude of curls off her neck when she bathed. It had belonged to her mother, one of the few things of hers she'd kept after her mother's death. She didn't know why she'd kept it, merely that it made her happy to have and gave her a small reminder of the woman she would always look up to.

The water was blissfully hot as she sank down into it, milky swirls of color shifting and weaving through it as her body disturbed the surface tension, and she felt the tell tale tingle of the salt crystals beginning to dissolve around her. The subtle scents of lavender and rose wafted around her, lulling her eternally busy mind into a state of empty calm that had her near asleep within moments. It was just what she needed after the hectic day she'd had.

Her muscled began to unknot as the heat seeped into her skin, her body floating a few centimeters from the bottom of the tub as she let herself be carried into the still center of her mind. What would happen after tomorrow? How would their experiment change humanity's understanding of the universe? Where would they end up? She had her own pet theory about what the other universes would be like, what they would contain, but she'd never had the nerve to mention them out loud. It sounded ridiculous, even to her, but according to the science, it held water, as the saying went.

She laughed as she thought of all the different books and shows and movies she'd ever seen. What if they were all real, in some other universe, stacked up against their own so close she could reach out and touch it, yet completely removed, unattainable, until now. It sounded crazy, she knew, but she couldn't take her mind off it. Visions of traipsing around the galaxy in a starship made her feel almost giddy and she found herself suddenly very excited for tomorrow's test run. She was sure that no matter where they ended up, it would be amazing

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The next morning dawned bright and a little too early for Ori's liking. She'd set her alarm for an hour and a half sooner than her usual wake up time, knowing that would have to her get work out in before the test, instead of on her way home as was her normal schedule. She grumbled, grabbing blindly at her side table until she found the cause of the noise and hurriedly silenced her phone. She wanted nothing more than to roll over and go back to sleep until a more decent hour, but she knew she would regret it later if she didn't keep up with her routine, so she reluctantly pulled herself from her bed and began shuffling around her room, gathering everything she would need for her usual work out and a shower. She also packed the “underclothes” the research team had given her, a full body black stocking that she would be wearing under the jump suit they'd designed to keep them safe during transfer.

By the time she got to the massive laboratory complex, her persistent drowsiness had been chased away by mounting nerves and excitement, and she was looking forward to putting them to good use in the gym. She buzzed her way into the building, clipping her name badge and security clearance to the collar of her jacket, waving a quiet “hello” or “good morning” to colleagues as they stopped to wish her luck on her “mission”.

She laughed softly as a few people gave her a Vulcan salute, or quoted Yoda or Obi Wan lines at her in passing. It was a running joke that had begun over a month before when a younger man, new to the team, had foolishly asked if their theory meant that those worlds were real. She'd done her best at the time to explain that, while the theory could be used to explain them, it was just as likely that it meant the other universes were upside down versions of their own, or universes where dark matter was the ruling force, not matter. He left scratching his head and calling her Spock, and thus the joke was born.

She walked into the large gym that management had put in, mostly to prevent muscle atrophy while the various teams worked on long projects that kept them sleeping in their offices and surviving off vending machine junk food and instant dinners. She'd grown used to being one of the only people to use any of the equipment, and as such, had made a few additions of her own. She smiled when she saw the room was free of the few other scientists that seemed to be physically minded, and walked over to the massive stereo system she'd installed about a year ago, plugging her phone in and beginning her stretching routine.

She made a few quick laps around all the machines, stopping to do a mile on the treadmill after she was done with the weight bench. As she moved through each machine, isolating each and ever muscle she had, she felt her anxiety about the experiment bleed away from her. Of course she didn't know what was going to happen, it was the unknown for a reason. Why should the lack of a conclusion make her fear the journey, it was pure silliness to let any amount of what ifs mar this moment. The machine worked, the equations were sound, the science was fool proof, it would work.

She stepped off the treadmill, panting and sweat soaked, but infinitely happier than she'd been when she stepped on and tapped the pause button on her phone's music player. She hated it when other people left their music blaring across the gym when they went to shower, and even though she was alone, she wasn't about to indulge in the bad habit she chastised others for having. 

After a quick shower she began packing her things away, she threw her work out clothes into a sealed bag, pressing out the air around the sodden material to keep it from growing anything while she was gone, and stuffed it, and all her other workout incidentals, into her locker, sliding the padlock through and closing it tight. She looped the key over the long chain she kept around her neck, smiling when it fell against the other objects kept on the length of metal with a soft “clink”. She had a habit of keeping anything important to her on her necklace. She had her father's wedding band, a small pentacle as a symbol of her faith, a bracelet charm that had been a gift from her last boyfriend, a tiny rolled up diploma she'd received from Suzie when she got her PhD, and now the locker key. It jingled faintly as she stepped into the protective onesie RnD had given her, stuffing a few personal items into a small bag that she would place inside the “transfer module” backpack that each of them would be given.

She knew it was silly to take anything other than what she knew she would need, which was nothing as far as she was concerned, but she couldn't stand the idea of parting with some of the things in her home, like her mother's clip. She straightened, grabbing the small bag and turning toward the door, feeling utterly silly in the clingy black fabric. She looked like she was about to on some spy mission or something, but according to Suzie and the techs both, this was the only thing that could be worn under the jumpsuit in order for the life metric readers to function, so she drew a calming breath and stepped out of the gym to head to the testing site.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Suzie, you look bad ass!” Ori said, stepping up onto the metal platform on which the machine had been mounted. They'd wisely decided to do it in one of the massively reinforced sub basements, just in case anything catastrophic happened, it wouldn't wreck any of the other parts of the building, it also happened to be located very close to the on site hospital wing and the morgue, so they were covered in every eventuality.

“Ori, finally! I was about to send someone to go look for you.” Suzie said, turning so the techs could hook up sensors and gadgets to the back of her suit. Her front side already made her look like a short Darth Vader on steroids, tons of flashing LEDs decorated the black jump suit, all she was missing was a helmet, which Ori could just about see under her far arm.

“Had to get my last work out in. Ya know what they say about skipping even one day.” She said, setting her small bag down next to the other suit. She stopped by it to admire the work. The fabric was much lighter and more fluid than she had imagined, her mind conjuring up images of thick space suits every time she thought about it. It had a faint shine that she liked, it just looked, futuristic to her. There were tiny ports all over it, no doubt where all the gadgets and lights were going to be attached, and as she ran a hand over it, she couldn't believe how smooth it was. “So what's up with the suits? I thought they were supposed to be all bulky and such.” She said, turning to the head tech, Matthew, and miming a bloated space man.

“What is this the 60's? We can put a lot more in a lot less these days. The only reason NASA still uses the same suits is because they can't afford the upgrade.” Matthew said, laughing softly as me motioned the techs to start getting Ori into her suit. 

“I guess that makes sense. Poor NASA. Well, if this test goes well, hopefully, the US will be willing to kick a bit more their way.” Ori said, watching as the techs started taking the pieces of the suit apart. She'd been wondering how she was supposed to get into it, with there being no zipper or buttons that she could see.

“Okay Dr. Jones, if you want to just step your feet into these.” One of the techs, the name badge said Sasha, held the flimsy fabric open for her to slide her foot into, the other quickly followed, and so the suit started getting layered on over the onesie. She could see now why anything thicker would've posed a problem. From what she could see of how the suit worked, it was a conglomeration of much smaller pieces, all with their own tech and wiring connections that were layered on over each other to create a full suit.

“How do you maintain suit integrity with so many seams?” She asked, looking over at Matthew, feeling the beginnings of apprehension swelling in her chest.

“The fabric is a magnetic nanite mesh, millions of tiny little magnets are woven into the seams so that once they come together,” he leaned down and yanked as hard as he could on the shiny suit, “they don't come apart again without a special pulse.” He smiled up at her. “My idea.” The pride was apparent in his eyes and she couldn't help the smile that beamed back at him.

“That is so fucking cool!” She said, dropping her professional persona for just a moment. Suzie and the techs all shared in her laughter as they began plugging in all the tiny sensors and gadgets that would be relaying all her vitals as well as mission data back to the computers that were all networked into the machine. “I am officially excited now.” She said, turning to Suzie as the techs started on her back side.

“You weren't before? I'm a little offended by that, this is some grade A awesome tech, and I'm agreeing to let you play with it.” Suzie grinned over at her from where she was doing one last double check of their supplies against the list she'd drawn up.

“I mean, I was excited before, but I was also terrified that your frankenputer coding skills were infectious. If this is the team that's been helping you, then I know we're good.” Ori said, sticking her tongue out at Suzie as she raised a very specific finger in response. “Very mature and professional Dr. Bishop.” She said, feeling her heart jump as the techs patted her on the shoulder. It was time. She grabbed the backpack from the bench, placing her own personal items in the front most pouch, and slung it over her back as the techs instructed. It immediately adhered to the fabric, filling the void left blank of sockets and sensors.

“Very cool right?” Suzie asked, slipping her bunned head into her helmet, pressing a small latch to seal it. Ori followe suit, wincing as the pressurization of the suit made her ears pop and ache for a moment. “My idea.” Suzie's voice came to her over the internal comms system and she couldn't help the small internal nerd out she was having.

“Holy shit, we're actually doing this.” She said, watching as Suzie all but vibrated, both women stepping up to the taped out boxes that marked where they should stand.

“We're about to make history Ori. Nothing is ever gonna be the same again.” Suzie turned to Matthew and gave a confident thumbs up. The machine whirred to life, the metal brackets that jutted out of each end extending to meet the platform and slowly rising upward, creating a perfect picture window of the surrounding lab before a line of brilliant white light raced from one to the other.

It was joined by another line, and then another, and another until the entire space was filled with the individual strings of light. With a snap and a metallic hiss, the strings merged, just as her calculations said they would, and the white void began to distend, stretching backward, though there was no bubble or funnel on the other side of the machine. The fabric began to twist and expand, creating a brilliant white tunnel, with a shifting black maw at its center.

“Tunnel is stable, contact confirmed, mission is go, repeat, mission is go.” Matthew's voice echoed over the comms and, as they'd been trained, they looked over to see visual confirmation in the form of a Vulcan salute. “See you when you get back ladies.” He said, giving a firm thumbs up.

They returned the thumbs up, their predetermined call sign for mission progress and stepped forward into the white void.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“You expect us to believe that?” Han asked, looking like his eyes were about to pop out of his head.

“Yeah, I do. I know it's difficult, but it's the truth.” She sighed, her body bruised and sore, and her mind weary. 

“Well then where's your friend?” Han asked, pointing down toward her with a look of triumph. He thought he'd caught her out.

“She...didn't make it. The tunnel was unstable on your end and the moment our feet hit the web it unraveled. We were exposed to the void between worlds and she was pulled away. I managed to cling to the web and pull myself the rest of the way to the portal before it closed.” She felt tears spring to her eyes as the memory rose unbidden to her mind. Suzie's eyes spread hopelessly wide as she felt herself beginning to pull away from the center of the tunnel, the screaming whine of the void sucking everything from the tunnel, her desperate grasping hand as she tried to take hold of anything she could that would keep Suzie from drifting away. But the image that would haunt her the most, that would remain with her for the rest of her life, was the image of her friend simply vanishing into nothingness. No body floated in the midst of the opaque space, no blood, nothing at all remained of the woman she'd known for nearly a decade, she was simply gone.

She was shaken from her stupor by a warm hand brushing a tear from her cheek and she looked over to meet the deep blue eyes of the Jedi that had been her first movie star crush. She drew in a quick breath and backed as far away from him as the tiny corridor would allow, bumping her head on a protruding bit of bulkhead.

“Do all women react like that when you touch um?” Han asked, elbowing Chewie's side as they shared a laugh at the blonde's expense. But Luke didn't seem to notice, his eyes fixated on Ori's stricken face.

“Han, she isn't lying.” He said, slowly standing to his full height, though his eyes never left her. “I don't know how, but she's telling the truth.” He turned to face his friend, watching as the humor slowly bled away, replaced at first with disbelief, then to anger, then finally to a kind of confused unease that had him also staring down at her.

“No way. Not possible. There's nothin' else out there kid, at least nothin' that can get to us.” He said, turning and heading down the corridor, disappearing with a resolute clang of metal slamming against metal.

“Sorry. Didn't mean to wreck your understanding of the universe.” Ori said, trying for a bit of humor to lighten the situation, though she could tell from the way Luke's shoulders stiffened that she'd missed the mark. He too turned and headed the opposite way, and though there was no clang, she could tell that he too had closed a door. Chewie seemed to be the only one not upset by anything she'd said, standing just where he had been, waiting for her to make a move.

She sighed, weighing her options. She could either remain where she was until she began to cramp up and starve, or she could get up and risk getting torn apart by a Wookie. Neither option was very enticing, both involving discomfort, pain, and death shortly after, but at least the Wookie would be faster. With this in mind, she began to rise slowly to her feet, her everything screaming in protest as she slowly straightened up. No death yet, that was a good sign.

She chanced a glance up at him and nearly jumped out of her skin when he stood away from the wall, his lumbering frame slowly advancing on her until they stood nose to furry chest. So it was to be Wookie death for her after all. But as she closed her eyes against the inevitable, nothing came. A furry hand settled on her shoulder and began to steer her through the corridors, stopping in front of a small door, much like all the others they'd passed. The door opened with a soft hiss and she saw a barren bunk, with nothing but a bed and a strange looking closet. A shove sent her stumbling into the room and she turned, just as the door closed. She noticed, with an irritated sigh, that there was no discernible door controls on this side.


	2. Going Under

She sat despondently on the small bunk opposite the door, trying desperately to distract herself from her thoughts. She'd been able to block her emotions during all the excitement and explanation, but now, sitting in the quiet gloom of her tiny cell, there was nothing but her memory. 

Tears slid down her cheeks as she fought to escape the images her mind seemed intent on dredging up. She saw her graduation day, her shoulders heavy with braids and the clasp of her Graduate Hood getting slowly tangled with the long chain she wore under her robes. Suzie was there, just like she'd always been, hugging her tight, her own braids pulling and snagging until they had to be untangled by Suzie's laughing parents. It had been such a happy day, so long coming and so hard fought.

The happy sight was replaced with a void of nothing, sucking and screaming around her as Suzie's hand clenched around her own. There were no words spoken, no pleas of “don't let go”, just panicked breathing and grunts of pain as tendons pulled and popped. Her hand clenched into a tight fist as her memory self redoubled her efforts to drag her friend back from the edge of oblivion. She felt the burning heat of the threads of her reality slipping through her fingers as they were both pulled agonizingly slowly away from the safe tunnel they'd created.

Time stood still as she saw Suzie's eyes go wide, her fingers going slack as the final bit of connective tissue pulled free from the bone. Her hand became suddenly too malleable, too limp, the bones and muscles compressing down in her tight grip. Suzie screamed, one hoarse shout before the mangled mass of her hand slipped from Ori's grasp.

She gasped as she was released from the memory, a fresh wave of sobs bursting from her chest, sending fire up her parched throat. She knew she was in shock, logically, but just as when her mother had passed, she was helpless to stop it. Nothing her rational mind could conjure would stop the pain and fear from rolling through her, ringing her body dry of every last tear, and there was nothing for her to do but weather it as best she could until it was over. Grief would come later, the quiet, silent, tearful remembrance that was common at funerals and memorial services, for now there was only deep, biting Loss.

Her pain made her deaf and blind to her surroundings, the figure in the now open doorway going unnoticed by her until a gentle hand closed over her own. She didn't know who it was, didn't particularly care, all she knew was that someone was offering her comfort in a moment when she had lost everything, and she latched onto it like a life line, her hand closing over the slender digits in a tight grip as she emptied her soul of the pain that threatened to eat her alive.

This was how she remained for what seemed like an eternity, her mind and body bowing fully under the weight of all she'd lost, until finally, with one deep gasping breath, she went numb. This was when the shock truly set in. Her mind and body both were exhausted, the latter carrying injuries that slowly began to throb and ache as her mind fell into a fuzzy blankness that left her feeling exhausted and almost drugged.

She barely managed to raise her head enough to see the face of a woman, her features blurred by tears. Ori knew her, the company alone was enough to give her identity away, but decided not to press the issue just yet. It didn't matter who she was or why she'd come into Ori's cell, all that mattered was that she was there.

“It'll be alright.” She said, moving to sit on the bunk beside the still shaking scientist. “I know you feel like you've lost everything, but it will be, in time.” A slender arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her close, gentle warmth slowly seeping into her chilled body. They remained that way for some time, with Leia offering silent commiseration to this strange woman who had lost more than she could ever comprehend, and Ori slowly finding her feet, until she realized how hungry she was. A faint growl from the vicinity of her stomach broke the peaceful atmosphere and earned a quiet laugh from Leia.

“So I guess someone filled you in on how I got here then?” Ori asked, accepting the offered hand that pulled her to her feet. It felt odd to be having this kind of interaction with someone who wasn't supposed to exist, someone who, in her world, was dead, but it was nice to see a friendly face.

“Han.” Leia said, a smile on her face. “He still doesn't believe you, but Luke does, and that's good enough for me. Now come on, let's see about getting you something to eat.” She pulled on Ori's hand, the tension sending a flash of memory through her mind, her hand tightening for a moment as the fear rolled through her. When she came back to herself, Leia was looking at her with a mixture of sympathy and concern.

“Sorry, I'm okay.” She said, forcing a smile and motioning for Leia to lead on, dropping her hand to her side in what she hoped was a casual manner.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Luke could feel her pain, her fear and her sadness as if it was his own. It was a new experience for him, one he wished he would never have again, and one he wished he could stop. He'd tried meditation, blocking out that whole part of the ship, even sleeping, but nothing would stop the flood of grief and terror that seemed to be draining away from her. But then, just as suddenly as it had come, it stopped, replaced by a buzzing kind of blankness that only made him more concerned.

But along with the blank buzzing was another person, a warm calm influence that he knew very well, and he felt his nerves begin to abate. If his sister was with her, then he had no need to worry, she would do more than he ever could to help calm their strange passenger. Now free from the torrent of emotions she had accidentally exposed him to, his mind returned to the problem at hand.

She hadn't been lying when she said she wasn't from their universe, he'd seen that much from the surface thoughts that flashed through her mind when he'd touched her. He'd seen himself, along with his friends, going through battles and adventure, but it had seemed strange, like it was viewed on a holoscreen. He'd caught a word, “movie”, but he lacked the context he needed to understand what it meant.

This knowledge had not so much destroyed his view of the universe, as the woman had put it, so much as alert him to a danger he hadn't even been aware existed until now. He'd been so consumed with keeping the galaxy at peace following their defeat of the Empire that he hadn't given any thought to what lay beyond it. Now he knew there was so much more than he could ever imagine, and while their first visitor appeared to be benign, what if others were not?

He sighed, pulling his racing thoughts to a stop and standing from the bunk he'd been sitting on. There was no use in worrying about it now, they were on a mission after all, and it wouldn't do for him to be distracted when they reached the Senate, he was the key speaker after all.

A knock on his door drew him fully from his mind, Leia's warm aura radiating faintly through the door letting him know just who was on the other side. He felt a smile tug at his lips, feeling a fresh rush of happiness at the knowledge that he even had a sister, let alone one as good and bright as her, and pressed the latch that would open the door, coming face to face with their mystery woman.

“Oh, hello.” He said, his smile remaining firmly in place despite his shock. He watched a faint touch of color brush her cheeks and was reminded of the other thoughts he'd seen in her mind, that he'd been one of her first crushes when she was young. His smile took on a somewhat roguish quality. She seemed to sense the change in his attitude, her blush deepening until Leia cleared her throat.

“We're getting food, are you hungry?” She asked, her voice a little harder than he was used to. He turned a somewhat shame faced grin on her, a silent conversation passing between the two before he nodded, stepping out into the tiny corridor with them.

“Han isn't going to like her being out of her room.” Luke said, walking shoulder to shoulder with his sister, keeping the woman behind him. 

“I don't care what he likes. She hasn't done anything wrong that we know of so she isn't staying in that water closet with no food or water.” Leia said, her tone final. Luke knew better than to argue any further, and he didn't particularly want to. He hadn't agreed with Han's idea to lock her up, especially considering the whole conversation had consisted of simple looks and gestures, giving the woman no chance to defend herself.

“I don't want to cause any trouble for you guys. I can stay in the room.” Ori said, feeling just how acutely removed she was from the whole situation. She wasn't from this place, she didn't know these people, despite how much she felt like she did, and she didn't belong. It may hurt to be alone with her thoughts, but at least there she didn't have to feel like an outsider.

“Nonsense.” Leia said, turning to face her. “The last thing you need right now is to be alone. I've got more than enough space in my bunk for two.” She smiled softly, turning back around as the corridor widened out. Ori felt her heart skip a beat as she saw the main room come into view. Everything was just as it should be, the table and bench seat, the mess of wires that seemed to be a constant near the floor, even R2 resting in a small alcove, his lights all dimmed down.

The spike of excitement ricocheted through Luke's mind, pulling his eyes around to watch as she stepped slowly into the room, her eyes flying around to different items that she seemed to have a memory of. She was so engrossed in the room itself that she'd failed to notice that the occupants were all watching as she slowly moved from object to object.

“Why is she out of the brig?” Han's voice broke the quiet atmosphere, drawing Ori's attention the the face of the angry space captain. She felt the fragile peace she'd managed to construct for herself crack and shudder under the weight of his gaze.

“I took her out.” Leia said, her tone shifting toward imperious as Han began to puff up his chest. “You had no reason to put her in there.” She took a step forward, shielding Ori from Han's line of sight.

“No reason? We don't know how she got here or who she is. She could be an Imperial spy.” Han said, sounding almost baffled by Leia's lack of foresight. He looked between the twins, searching for any sign that they were gonna come to their senses.

“Han, we know she isn't. Just because you choose not to believe her doesn't mean she's lying. Or are you saying that you don't believe me either?” Luke asked, stepping up to stand beside his sister. He hated having to pull the “jedi” card, but Han was just so stubborn sometimes. Chewie chose that moment to let out a soft growl, all the sound he needed to gather everyone's attention before pointing to the now vacant spot where Ori had been standing.

Luke felt another rush of sadness race through him and felt his heart break for the woman. He turned a hard gaze on Han before retreating back down the hall they'd come from. He knew where she would be going, the one place she felt she could be alone, and he wanted to at least get a chance to properly introduce himself before she locked herself in. He found her, standing just outside the small make shift brig, staring at the door controls with a look of lost confusion.

“Are you alright?” He asked, feeling sympathy swell inside him as she jumped, her head whipping around to meet his eyes. “Han can be an idiot sometimes. You don't have to go back in there if you don't want to.” He held out a hand, exuding every ounce of farm boy charm he had in the hopes of getting her to reach out.

“He's right though, you don't know me, and I don't belong here. I don't want to cause tension between you guys, so I'll just...” She drew a deep breath, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She was so tired of crying, tired of being emotional, tired of her insides knotting up, but even as she tried to swallow them down, she knew that she wasn't gonna make it. She turned her eyes back to the door controls, hoping that the absence of those deep blue eyes would help her regain some semblance of control, but she just wasn't that lucky.

“You aren't alone.” His voice was soft as he spoke, his proffered hand coming to rest on her shoulder, steering her away from the panel and around to face him just as a quiet sob escaped her tightly clenched throat. He felt more than sensed the next wave of sadness, sinking to the floor with her as her legs gave way. He had to fight to separate himself from the swirling mass of emotions as her fragile defenses broke down. He'd never experienced such a sense of isolation before.

He drew a shaky breath as she cried, trying to shield his mind while still sensing her. She was so alone, left drifting in a strange ocean, and she was getting tired of holding herself up. She was afraid, her whole future having vanished into a whining void along with the only piece of home she had. But above all, she was so bitterly angry. This was something that had meant so much to her, that was supposed to end so well, to usher in a new age for her world, and it hadn't. Instead, she was stranded, alone and afraid, in a world that wasn't hers, and those she left behind would never know what happened to her. She wanted to scream, but all she could do was cry.


	3. Carry On

Leia had joined them by the time Ori came back to herself, that same gentle hand stroking soothing circles into her shoulder while Luke supported her against his chest, now decidedly damp. She knew she should be embarrassed, knew that she'd just made a massive fool of herself, but at that moment, surrounded by their calming energy, she found that she just didn't care. She needed to be allowed to be human for a moment, and they were giving her that, so she was going to take it.

“Stupid question, but are you feeling better?” Leia asked, a sad smile spreading across her face. Ori couldn't help but return it, watery and red eyed though it may have been, her head nodding silently as she slowly sat up away from Luke.

“Sorry, I guess I wasn't as done as I thought I was before.” She pushed stray curls from her forehead, tucking them back behind her ears. She felt her face color up softly as Luke's quiet chuckle echoed around them.

“We should be the ones apologizing. Now come on, I'm still hungry.” He stood, holding a hand out to her, that same quiet smile in place. She drew a calming breath and nodded, clasping his hand and getting to her feet. She still felt the shock of fear as he pulled her up, still saw Suzie's terrified face, but not as badly. She wondered if he'd done something while she cried, some Jedi trickery that would help her, but decided against following that train of thought too much.

“What about Han?” She asked, not feeling up to another round of abuse just yet. She knew she should stand up for herself, she'd never let anyone run roughshod over her before, but for some reason, she just couldn't bring herself to face off with him. Maybe it was because she'd held him in such high regard for so long that it felt wrong to put him down now. Or maybe it was the seven foot seven mass of fur that was always just to his right. Whatever the reason, she found herself unable to talk back when faced with his anger and thus would rather avoid it if possible.

“He's been informed that his behavior is unacceptable.” Leia said, bristling slightly at the recent conversation, though shouting match would be a better term for it. “He won't be bothering you anymore.” She said, patting Ori softly on the shoulder and steering her to the large bench seat, pushing her gently down until she was sitting. “Now don't disappear this time okay? I'll be right back.” She looked toward Luke and both twins disappeared into what she could only assume was a small galley kitchen.

She took the moment of solitude to catch her breath, her mind struggling to catch up to everything that had happened in the last, however long it had been. She wasn't alone, that was the first thing that clicked in her mind. Sure Han was having issues with accepting her presence, but Luke and Leia seemed to believe her, which wasn't half bad, and went a long to making her feel less gut-wrenchingly terrified of her future. The next thing was that, however horribly the experiment may have gone, she'd proven her theories, all of them, even the ones she'd never shared with another soul. 

She wished she could feel happy about that, wished she could celebrate the accomplishment, but she couldn't. The person she should be celebrating with was dead, lost to a void that she couldn't save her from. Her scientific mind took a small moment to log the victory, bitter as it may have been, but that was all she would allow herself. She'd failed, as far as she was concerned, and her friend had paid the price.

“Oh, hello there. My name is C3PO, human cyborg relations. I do not believe we've been introduced.” The voice shook her from her thoughts and brought her back around to face a familiar golden face, a small smile pulling at her lips.

“We haven't. My name is Dr. Oria Jones, it's not to meet you C3PO.” She said, bowing her head slightly. The droid seemed to like that, muttering a quiet “oh my” before bowing at the waist, his joints squeaking faintly at the motion.

“Do you require any assistance Dr. Jones?” 3PO asked, taking a small step closer. 

“No thank you.” She said, shaking her head with a soft smile. She'd always liked the droid, even though others found him annoying at times, and she'd always hated how rude everyone was to him.

“Very well, if you require anything, I will be powered down just over there. Don't hesitate to ask.” He said, giving another bow before turning and walking to the same alcove R2 was resting in and shutting off. She laughed softly, her mind struggling to catch up to what had just happened, straining to accept the incredulity of the whole situation. Luckily, she was spared much further thought by the twins returning from wherever they'd been, trays in hand.

“Alright, so it's not the best, but it'll fill you up.” Leia said, setting a tray down in front of her before sliding into the far side of the booth, motioning for her to move over so Luke could sit on the other side of her. She obliged, feeling a little strange about being pinned in by the siblings, but chalked it up to her jittery emotional state and began tucking into her food.

Leia was right, it was the best, but it wasn't terrible either. She'd spent a fair few years living off instant dinners and ramen noodles, so she was used to prepackaged food. The meat, or whatever was impersonating the meat, had a fair amount of flavor, and whatever the pasta like things were had a buttery texture that reminded her of egg noodles. Mixed together with a little sauce, it all started to taste kind of like her mother's old beef and noodles recipe. It brought a small smile to her face as she ate, remembering the way her brother would slurp up the little egg noodles, earning a soft swat on the leg from their mother and an admonishment from their father. He never did learn to knock it off.

“So, I just realized, I don't actually know your name.” Leia said, trying to sound conversational. Ori could tell she was feeling awkward about the whole thing, no doubt thrown off by the idea of there being a universe where she didn't exist.

“Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Oria, Oria Jones. You can call me Ori.” She said, smiling and holding out a hand. Leia shook it gently and returned the smile. “And you don't have to be so proper about this whole thing. You can ask me whatever you want, I won't mind.” She took a sip of the dark liquid in her glass, liking the way it tasted, almost like soda, only without the bubbles.

“Are we real, in your world I mean.” Leia asked, her face suddenly serious. It was strange to see her mood shift so rapidly, but then Carrie Fischer had always been an amazing actress so it was only right that her character be similarly skilled.

“In the sense that you the person exists, no. But, you are movie characters, so there are real people actors that portrayed you, so in that sense, yes.” Ori said, hoping that that explanation would be as intelligible out loud as it was in her head.

“What's a movie?” Luke asked, his curiosity still burning from the initial images he'd seen in her mind.

“Well, a movie is like a story, told through pictures and sound. Images move across a screen, along with spoken dialog, like a play, only recorded.” Ori knew they had theater in this universe, though it might still be different to what she knew, so hopefully they would be able to make the intellectual leaps on their own.

“And actors play characters in these movies.” Luke said, his head nodding slowly as if some massive puzzle pieces just clicked into place. Now the images he'd seen made sense. They looked flat because they were up on a screen, she was watching the action second hand.

“But there's no Leia Organa in your universe?” Leia asked, still struggling to wrap her mind around the fact that she didn't exist.

“Not that I know of. The actress who played you, Carrie Fischer, was the closest to you that we got.” Ori said, smiling, though it seemed tinged with sadness. Leia wanted to ask why thinking of this person made her sad, but Luke's subtle head shake let her know to drop the subject. “How long have I been here?” She asked, looking between the twins. She felt as if she hadn't eaten or drunk anything in days. She knew it had to have been a while, she'd slept several times since she was put in that room, but her scientific mind was curious as to the exact time table.

“We found you three days ago. We still don't know how you managed to get on the ship, no one was in the cargo bay when you arrived, but you fell from somewhere, the thump was what led us to you.” Luke said, looking almost guilty at the admission. So it had been three days since she was found. No wonder she was so fragile, three days of isolation after a severe trauma or loss will make anyone unstable.

“Wow, I knew it had been a while, but I didn't know it was that long.” She wanted to ask why she'd been left alone that long, wanted to know if they really trusted her as much as they seemed to. But she knew that she wouldn't be able to get a straight answer out of either of them, and she wasn't entitled to one either. She was, simply put, an invader in their home, and they had every right to treat her with as much or as little distrust as they saw fit. 

An uncomfortable silence settled over the three of them, each one feeling a different emotion, until a thud and a loud swear broke the silence. Leia groaned softly, her hand slowly sliding down her face as Chewie's growling added to the din and Luke simply sat back against the padded back of the bench and laughed.

“I told him not to try and fix it while we're in hyperspace.” He said, sounding almost gleeful as the swearing got louder. “He never listens.” He stood from the bench and strolled slowly to the mouth of another corridor. “You okay back there buddie?” He shouted, earning a wave of insults and swears for his trouble. “Okay.” He turned and walked back to his seat, his shoulder shaking with silent laughter that Leia joined in on a moment later.

“It's like you two are the siblings sometimes.” She said, resting her head on her arm, shaking it gently as the ship stuttered and fell out of hyperspace. “What am I gonna do with that man?” She asked, more to herself than anyone else. Luke just continued to laugh as Leia lamented, Ori fighting to repress a smile as the whole situation reminded her forcefully of her days in the graduate program at her university.

The sound of pounding footsteps echoed up the corridor and Ori readied herself for another confrontation as Han rounded the corner, grease smeared and red faced. He looked from Luke's laughing face to the top of Leia's head as she continued to groan before settling on Ori.

“You said you were a scientist right?” He asked, his body suddenly relaxing as if he'd just found the solution to all his problems.

“Yeah...” She replied, feeling suddenly apprehensive. She'd never been very technologically minded, preferring to stick to theory while Suzie built the gadgets.

“Think you could do some calculations for me?” He asked, his face melting into the most personable smile she'd ever seen. Her heart leapt at the idea of not only being useful, but also of being able to catch a glimpse at the science that ruled this universe and she nodded, a smile spreading across her face. Han nodded, crooking his finger at her as she hurried out of the bench seat, disappearing down the corridor with him.

“You did that on purpose didn't you?” Leia asked, looking up at Luke's grinning face. She'd thought it a bit odd that he would antagonize her husband like that, usually being much more reserved and counseling patience when Han started to lose his temper, but now it was beginning to make sense.

“I don't know what you mean.” He said, getting up from the bench seat and stretching his arms toward the ceiling. “You better get on those Senate notes, I imagine they'll have a lot of questions for you once I'm done talking.” His grin only deepened as Leia groaned yet again, her eyes moving to the all but forgotten data pads that were sitting at the far side of the table.

He smiled as he left her to it, moving through the ship quickly until he reached his own room. His mind wandered to their resident stranger, Oria Jones. He hadn't intended for her to get swept off by his friend quite so quickly, he still had a great deal to ask her, not least of which being how he was able to sense her so clearly. She had to have some kind of training, some Force equivalent in her universe that would allow her to tap into it so easily, but if she could use the force, then why did she allow her emotions to rule her? Why didn't she simply meditate and lessen them the way he'd been taught to do.

He felt his stomach drop a little as a thought passed through his mind. What if she'd been taught to use her emotions, the Vader had been? He'd spoken with his father only once following his death, and had learned a great deal of the Sith and their ways. What if Oria was like them? No, something about that didn't feel right. When he'd been around the Emperor, he'd felt the wrongness of him, the way he seemed to warp the air in the room, it was almost physical. He didn't feel anything like that from Oria.

He sighed, leaning back on his bunk and closing his eyes, willing his thoughts to slow. There was nothing he could find out from what ifs and maybes and she was not on hand to question, so he would simply have to wait. It wasn't like she was going anywhere anytime soon, there would be time later to find out what he needed to know.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Okay, so this is the variable that tells the ship where in space it needs to stop, and this is the variable that tells the ship where in hyperspace it needs to be to get to where it needs to stop. From there you said the ship plots a course around all known obstacles to avoid collisions and then off we go right?” Ori asked, looking up at Han as she spoke. This was truly fascinating stuff. She'd always assumed hyperspace was a speed, but it was in fact, a destination in its own right, a soft of subspace superhighway that you could slip into and out of with the right speed and engine.

“You got it. So what I need you to do is get us from here to here as fast as possible, my navicomputer is on the blink and it can't chart the route itself.” He handed her a pen and some paper and slid a data tape into the console, bringing up star charts and maps. “It can still calculate obstacles, so I know we won't hit anything, I just need to shave some time off our trip to make sure her Worshipfulness gets to the Senate on time.” He directed a look over his shoulder, as if he was afraid she would come around the corner at any moment demanding to know why they weren't moving.

“I think I can do it, it seems pretty basic compared to what I've been working with recently. But, and I don't mean anything bad by this at all, are you sure you want to trust me with this? I mean, you don't seem to like me very much, or trust me for that matter, and I don't want to do anything to make that worse.” She hadn't meant to let so much fall out of her mouth when she resolved to ask the question, merely wanting to give him a chance to back out should he not fully trust her capabilities, but once she'd started, she couldn't stop.

“Listen, I don't trust you, not yet, but I do believe you. Luke and Leia say you're telling the truth so I gotta trust my friends but if you try anything funny...” He let the threat hang in the air, his hand hovering over his blaster for a moment as she nodded. “Glad we got that cleared up, now let's get to work.” He turned and headed back to the engineering nightmare that was the Falcon's internal components and she turned her attention to the charts and calculations.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Luke had to brace himself against the floor to keep from falling as the ship jumped back to hyperspace. He felt a smile cross his face as a wave of accomplishment and happiness fluttered back to him from the direction of the cockpit. It was joined by a faint trace of Han's laughter as both bodies moved through the ship.

He smiled as he heard the two pass his door, Oria saying something about a wrench that had Han laughing and instant later. He rose quickly from his bunk, popping out his door to join the two. Oria smiled at him as he approached, pointing toward him as Han questioned what she was smiling at. Han turned, his grin turning lopsided as he caught eyes with his friend.

“This doesn't make you right kid.” He said, turning and heading quickly down the corridor. Luke watched him go with undisguised humor, stopping just short of where Oria stood.

“I hope I didn't interrupt anything.” He said, directing his grin at her. She colored up again, shaking her head softly, sending crimson tendrils of hair down into her face. She reached up and brushed them behind her ear, blowing a few stray strands away with a quip puff of air and turned to look at him.

“Is there something you needed or were you just popping out to check up on me?” She asked, her eyes conveying a whole host of emotions. There was gratitude and happiness, but the sadness and fragility he'd sensed in her still hovered there as well, just around the edges of her deep green eyes.

“A little of both actually. Do you have a minute? I know you're probably tired but I do have a few questions I would like to ask you.” He tried to make it sound as personable as possible, not wanting her to feel pressured. He knew that she was feeling very out of place right now, trapped in a small space with a bunch of people she both knew and didn't know, and it was all probably very confusing for her. The last thing he wanted to do was make it worse by making her feel she had to listen to him if she didn't want to.

“Yeah, I don't think Han needs me anymore so I'm all yours.” She said, shrugging and gesturing for him to lead her wherever he wanted to go. He smiled and turned, moving back toward his own room, making a show of opening the door so that she could watch his movements before stepping inside. She followed, laughing softly, a sense of quiet gratitude floating slowly over to him and making him feel strangely warm inside. “So, what did you want to know?” She asked, sitting down on one of the cushions along the wall. They'd been a gift to him from Leia, to make meditation more comfortable she'd said.

“Better to start with an explanation of my own I think.” He said, sitting opposite her on another cushion. He didn't want to start out like this, but she seemed to like to be direct so he drew a breath, steadying himself as he met her eyes. “The Force is strong in my family, my father had, I have it, my sister has it. You know these words, I saw them in your mind when we touched. I think you have it as well. I've been able to sense you very strongly since you appeared on board.” He expected denial, anger, outrage, or simple refusal. He did not expect excitement and the overwhelming tide of pure child like glee that washed over him.

“What? You can't be serious. I mean, obviously you are serious and I don't mean to make light of your religion, but you can't be serious.” She clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from speaking, trying her best to push down the absolute geek out she was having at the idea of being able to use The Force. She reminded herself that it was real here, an actual thing, a tremendous power that could turn bad quick if not controlled. “Sorry, I'm better now, go ahead.” She swallowed, feeling her insides all but vibrating with excitement.

Luke couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. For the first time since he'd met her, she wasn't sad. The sadness was still there, along with the aching sense of loss, but now, she had something new to cling to, something new to latch her hopes to. She had a future again, and she was so happy she could burst. He felt his heart swell with that happiness and drew a breath to calm himself, one of them had to keep their head or this conversation would never go anywhere.

“Well your reaction pretty much answers my first question but I'll ask anyway. Do you have anything like The Force in your universe?” He watched as her excitement dimmed, replaced by an almost internal look. She was searching her mind for anything that she knew in their universe that would be a match for what she knew of The Force.

“Hmm, that's an interesting question. We have some forms of energy that can be manipulated with the right technology, but nothing that a human mind can use to do the things you do. The closest we have is what some of us call Magic. It's a specific kind of energy that all living things generate, and if you know what you're doing, you can use it to subtly manipulate the world around you, encourage healing, give luck, that kind of thing. Nothing I know of in my universe operates or has as much power as The Force. Why?” She looked up, the introspection gone from her face, replaced by open curiosity. He couldn't resist the quiet laugh as he began to feel like a specimen in a lab.

“For me to sense you as clearly as I do, I would need to be connected to you, intensely. Obviously, I'm not, which just leaves one explanation, that you've trained in the art of channeling and are sending these feelings out for me to pick up on.” He watched as the introspective look came over her face again. Neither of those theories sounded right to him, and apparently to her either, so she had gone off in search of one that did. What would it be, he wondered.

“Well I know I haven't trained in The Force, I wouldn't be here if I had, I would be making money hand over fist in Vegas levitating anything that wasn't nailed down. But I did work with Magic a bit. So if Magic and The Force are essentially the same energy, just varying strengths and level of contact, then its possible that I'm using The Force without meaning to. Does that make sense?” She asked, looking over at him for confirmation that her idea held water.

Now it was Luke's turn to be introspective. From what she'd described, this Magic was similar to The Force, though far less potent, and if she could manipulate something so small an energy, then tapping into the wellspring of The Force would be absurdly simple, and it could cause the kind of link he'd been experiencing. Something about it still didn't sound right to him, but he couldn't place his finger on exactly what it was. 

“It does, though something about it still seems off. With the kind of link that would form, I should be able to read your surface thoughts, as well as your emotions, and I can't.” His eyes narrowed at the floor as he tried to find an explanation that would fit all the facts.

“Well that could just be down to my mental disorders. I can't even catch most of my surface thoughts, stupid ADHD.” She laughed, looking up at him expectantly. Was he meant to laugh as well? What was this ADHD she was talking about? He watched as her face started to fall. “You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?” She asked, a look of pure incredulity settling on her face as he shook his head. “Oh boy, settle in, this is gonna be a long one.” She said, laughing softly before launching into a detailed explanation of what mental disorders were and what caused them.

She detailed the ones that she personally lived with, namely Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She explained that ADHD could account for the lack of surface thoughts, as the executive pathways in the brain that led to one having surface thoughts, never formed in her brain. She didn't have the kind of internal governors that he had that would allow her mind to separate out extraneous thoughts from the more important matters, and as such, she wouldn't have anything simply “floating around” in her mind for him to read.

“It's also why my emotions are always so intense. I literally can't control them as well as other people can so they sort of get to gang up on me whenever they want.” She said, shrugging as if she'd given this explanation a hundred times before. Luke felt his heart break for her, the mere thought of being at the mercy of his every thought and emotion making him want to scream.

“How do you manage?” He asked, marveling at her control. Now that she'd explained it, he could sense her thoughts, running loops around each other in her mind, a massive swirl of input just waiting to be fed through her brain.

“Practice mostly, judicious use of distraction, and occasional days where I just don't. I'm guess that's what the last few days are gonna be marked down as cause I sure as shit didn't handle myself very well.” She blushed softly, her hand moving to worry at the back of her neck. Was she actually embarrassed by how she'd acted? After all she'd been through? He felt a new sense of respect for this woman bloom in his chest and he had to fight the urge to pull her close.

“I think you've handled yourself very well Oria.” He said, smiling softly as her blush deepened. She muttered something that sounded like “shut up” and locked her eyes to the far corner of the room. “In fact, I think you showed great potential.” He said, keeping his tone casual as he too picked a vacant corner to look at. He could feel her eyes whip around to him as he spoke, the excitement from before bubbling up inside her in a way that drew a smile to his lips.

“Well I am a good student, I mean, if you were to teach me anything, I'm a quick study.” She said, mimicking his casual tone and pulling a full grin to his lips as his eyes slid back to meet her.

“And it would be terribly irresponsible of me to just leave you without training, dangerous even.” He watched as she nodded sagely, her expression a perfect parrot of seriousness, the urge to laugh was unbearable.

“No one wants untrained Force users around, all kinds of trouble could happen.” She said, her face a mask of concern. It proved to be too much for him as she nodded once again, a loud bark of laughter bursting out of him as she finally cracked a grin. They shared a bout of laughter as they both came to terms with what they'd just agreed to before lapsing into a comfortable silence.

“I've never had a student before.” He said, looking at her, seriousness slowly bleeding through his humor.

“Don't think of me as a student, I'm just a friend you're showing something to, it takes the pressure off.” She said, smiling knowingly. She'd never had to teach someone something as important as this before, but she'd had a handful of classes in her time, and for some reason, the word “student” was just too intimidating.

“I like the sound of that. We'll start tomorrow, it's time for dinner and then you should really get some rest, you've had a busy day.” He said, standing and holding out a hand. She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to see Suzie's face again. Luke's hand closed over her own, pulling her forward, gasping as the image of a woman's face flashed in his mind along with a pang of pure grief.

He kept a hold of her arm, riding through the rest of the memory with her, needing to know what caused her so much pain, and felt his heart still at the horror of it all. So this was why she was so angry, this was why she cried. He opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed as a soft hand brushed a tear from his cheek.

“Sorry you had to see that.” She said, sniffing softly as a near identical tear rolled unchecked down her own cheek. 

“Don't be. It wasn't your fault.” He said, knowing she would understand the double meaning. He wanted to help her move past this, to get to a place where she wasn't afraid to take his hand anymore. She just nodded, dropping her arm out of his grasp and turning to the door, mimicking his actions from earlier to open it, disappearing out into the corridor beyond.


	4. Fresh Start

That night was the first time Oria had been able to sleep without the intense memories assaulting her, her mind was simply too exhausted to conjure them. Dinner had been a simple affair, more of the same kind of instant mystery food that she was beginning to understand sustained all space travelers. Han had attempted to be a little nicer to her, though he hadn't quite managed it, and Chewie even went so far as to pat her on the head, it made her far happier than it had any right to.

After dinner had come the nightmare that was getting out of the suit she'd spent the last three days in. She was loathe to part with it, not knowing if it was still working, still relaying data, telling the home team that she was still alive, but it hadn't been meant to be worn for this long, and it was beginning to chafe. 

Leia had spent a good five minutes struggling with it, not believing her when she said it could only be removed with a specific pulse, before calling R2 into the room to try and help. It took another half hour to find the specific frequency needed to make the magnetic fabric separate, but eventually the little astromech was able to get her free, and then had come the adventure of the sonic shower.

Leia had laughed at her for a solid ten minutes after she got out, the squeak of sheer panic and surprise she'd emitted when the sonic activated imprinted forever in her mind. Ori had tried to be angry with her, making some half assed excuse about having never used one before, but she couldn't keep it up in the face of Leia's honest amusement and collapsed into a fit of giggles herself. It had been the first time she really saw the princess as a person, instead of a character.

They'd spent the rest of the short night trying to find her something to wear, resorting to having to borrow one of Luke's old shirts as it was the only thing that would fit her curvy frame. She had to fight down a blush at the thought of it having once touched his skin the way it was now touching hers, reminding herself that this was no time to be reliving old crushes, but parts of her body that seemed unconnected to the rest of her still set about tingling in an uncomfortable way until she fell asleep.

In place of the nightmares and memories that she'd grown used to, there were only fuzzy half dreams, glimpses of deep blue eyes, soft lips at her throat, combat roughed hands grazing down her body, sending shivers over her skin, and a strange sense of connection that had her waking in the night, body drenched in sweat and breath coming in quick gasps. Leia roused just long enough to ask if she was alright before falling back asleep, leaving Ori alone and confused in the darkness. Why the hell had she been dreaming about that?

Elsewhere in the ship, Luke was awake and panting, his eyes searching his darkened bunk for any sign of the woman that had invaded his dreams. He'd never felt such intense emotion before, the images that accompanied it serving to light a fire under his skin that he knew would keep him awake for the rest of the night if it wasn't dealt with. He collapsed back against his pillow with a groan, this was going to complicate things.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Ori wake up!” Leia's voice pulled her from the dark swirling mass that had held her trapped. Her eyes flew open, her hands wheeling wildly through the air as she fought to free herself from the terror that gripped her. “Hey hey, it's okay, you're okay.” Soft hands closed over her wrists, pulling them down to the tangled blankets as warm brown eyes came into focus in her field of vision. The light in the bunk was still dim, casting shadows into the corners and keeping Leia's face in half darkness, but just seeing that she wasn't alone went a long way to helping her calm down.

“Sorry.” She felt herself sag back against the padded bunk mattress, Leia's hand leaving her wrists to rest on the blanket by her hip. She could feel her concern, knew she wanted to know what she'd been dreaming about, but she wasn't up to talking about it just yet.

“You were screaming.” Leia said, her hand moving to trace a soothing line down Ori's arm. “Was it a memory?” She asked, hoping to help give her new friend some peace of mind.

“I'm not sure. It was just darkness and so much noise and fear.” She felt it bloom in her chest as she spoke, the same gripping terror that had pulled scream after scream from her in her sleep. Tears welled up as she shut her eyes against them. She was so tired of crying, of feeling helpless and lost. She wanted to be the confident and strong person she'd been in her world, not this weak imitation that couldn't go a single night without reassurance.

Leia looked like she was about to respond, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door. She sighed, giving Ori a soft smile before standing and moving to the door, wincing as the light from the corridor streamed into the room. Luke stood on the other side, looking equal parts concerned and confused. Ori felt her heart sink as he stepped into the room, so she'd woken them both up then, way to go.

“Are you okay?” He asked, looking toward his sister. “I could sense your fear from my room.” He stepped slowly past the door, his eyes taking in Leia's relatively made bed and then Ori's mass of sheets and blanket.

“Sorry, Ori was having a nightmare and her screaming woke me.” Leia said, trying to make it sound conversational. They'd all had nights like hers, where the memories they fought to push down rose up to attack them in their sleep. “We're okay though.” She said, smiling and turning back to her own bunk.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you guys.” Ori said, sitting up in the bunk and pulling the blanket around her to form a kind of nest, giving Luke space to sit down if he chose. She was secretly hoping he wouldn't, but should've known better as he immediately filled the empty space.

“It's okay, I'm sure Leia agrees when I say we'd much rather you wake us so we can wake you than have you suffer by yourself.” He said, placing a hand comfortingly on her knee. The motion woke the memory of the other dreams she'd had the night before and she had to fight to push them down before he could see them, that would be the last thing she needed.

“We may not know each other well yet Oria, but that doesn't mean we don't care.” Leia said, giving yet more weight to her brother's words. “Now, why don't you tell us what you were dreaming about, maybe we can help.” She said, Luke's nodding registering in her peripheral.

“I appreciate the concern, really I do, but I don't really know what was happening in the dream, just that it was dark, and I was terrified and in pain. I used to get night terrors as a kid, a kind of waking nightmare that you can't get out of, but it's been years since I had one. I guess all of this,” she gestured around her, “is just catching up with me. Sorry, I know it isn't much to go on.” She shrugged, looking from one face to the other, waiting to see the frustration and irritation that had been near constant on her mother's face when she was younger, but all she saw was sympathy and understanding.

“That sounds awful, is that a common occurrence in your universe?” Leia asked, sitting slowly up and mimicking her posture. “For children to suffer like that?” Her face was a mask of sympathy and horror.

“Fairly, it usually stems for a deeper mental disorder, mine was from my anxiety, the night terrors were the only way my young mind could articulate what it was feeling. It got a lot better once I got on my meds.” She wanted to ask if mental illness existed in this universe, but she was afraid of the answer. What if it didn't? What if she was some kind of freak here? She'd spent the better part of her young life feeling like the odd one out, she didn't want to have to go through that again.

“You must be very strong to be able to speak of it as you do.” Luke said, seeming to sense her discomfort. It made her feel a little better, just as it always did, to have someone realize how hard it is to live with the hell her mind put her through, but she couldn't shake the idea that she was the only one around that had to deal with it.

“I honestly never thought of it in terms of strength. I didn't really have any other option, it was either learn to live with it and keep it in check, or go crazy.” She shrugged, wanting desperately to move on from this particular subject. She'd never liked talking about her mental illness, or her childhood for that matter, and this dealt with both. The twins remianed silent as she got herself under control, banishing the remnants of the nightmare to the recesses of her mind.

“Well, since we're up, we might as well start breakfast.” Leia said, standing slowly from her bunk and ushering her brother out into the hall, turning to a small case that held her clothes and personal items. She began pulling out several pairs of what looked like leggings, holding each pair up to eye them over before tossing them away until she seemed to find what she was looking for. “These should fit you.” She said, turning and holding a pair of brown leggings out to her.

She stood and accepted the clothing, surprised at the supple softness of the material. It reminded her of soft tooled leather and she felt a small smile grace her face as she slid into them, memories of nights in the bar with Suzie and the gang flashing through her mind. It had been years since she got to simply go out and have fun, perhaps now she would have the chance.

The girls made their way slowly to the common area, Leia asking all manner of questions about her world and the people she'd known, being careful to avoid any subject that might cause her pain. She still managed to bring up a few bad memories, but for the most part it was just anecdotes about her time in college and questions about politics and how they functioned where she was from.

“Morning princess” Han said, grinning cheekily at her as she rolled her eyes, aiming a smack at his arm as she walked by. Luke laughed as he rubbed at the now stinging spot and handed his sister a tray. It was much the same as the night before, but the pasta like side dish had been replaced with some questionable looking bread and the dark drink was replaced with something off white and opaque. Another tray was handed to her and they all sat down to eat.

“We'll be arriving on Yavin 4 sometime tonight, I need to go over security with you before we land, I don't want anything going wrong.” Han said, his posture looking almost ready for a fight.

“I don't need security Han, these are our own people.” Leia said, refusing to look up from the data pad she was reading. Ori could tell this was a conversation that had happened many times before, and would probably end much the same as it had in the past. It reminded her of Gavin and his fiance Trisha. She felt her heart lurch as she remembered they would be getting married soon. She was supposed to be in the wedding.

“Hey, you okay?” Luke asked, his voice quiet as the couple continued to argue. Ori looked up from her spot on the floor and shrugged, trying to push a smile to her lips but failing.

“Just a lot of things I'm remembering I won't be doing anymore. Those two reminded me of a couple friends I have back home, they're getting married soon and I was supposed to be there.” She drew a breath, feeling tears prick at her eyes and blinked them rapidly away. “Just adjusting I guess.” She turned back to her meal, suddenly without appetite.

“Come on.” Luke said, grabbing both their trays and standing up. “They're gonna be at it a while.” He smiled as the argument started ramping up, Leia's voice slowly rising to match Han's. Ori could almost feel the tension between the two and stood, following Luke down the corridor to his room, the door closing just as the shouting started. 

“Whoa.” She said, her voice quiet as she faced the door. She'd grown up with parents that fought, always trying to get the last word in and shouting when they couldn't understand the other person's point of view. It had seemed normal at the time, but now, seeing it from the outside, she could understand why they'd decided to split. “That is not healthy.” She said, turning back around to face her would be teacher.

“They're just working out how to talk to each other. It's hard when their whole relationship up to this point has consisted of flirting and running for their lives.” Luke said, shrugging and dropping onto his bunk, gesturing for her to join him while handing her one of the trays. She smiled, crossing her legs and balancing the tray on her knees as they both resumed eating.

A moment of silence stretched between them as each fell into their own thoughts. Luke began to plan how he would go about teaching Oria what she needed to know in order to control her powers and Ori busied herself with trying to to realize how much cuter Luke was up close. She could feel the tingle beginning again, distracting her from the world around her and making each tiny movement a practice in self control. She only hoped he hadn't noticed.

“Are you finished?” Luke asked, looking over at her nearly empty tray and still hands. He couldn't stifle his small chuckle as she jumped, pulled from whatever thought had been sending those small jolts of sensation across the link he still hadn't managed to break. She nodded, passing her tray into his waiting hand and turned to face him, her cheeks still red. “Before we begin, what do you already know of The Force?” He asked, watching the excitement bloom in her eyes.

“Well, only what was explained in the movies. A few of my friends were really deep into the mythos at one point, but I never really understood what they were saying. So, The Force, is like a web of energy, it passes through everything in the universe and binds it all together. If you have the ability, you can learn how to manipulate the energy to do things like lift objects, influence people, heal, that kind of thing.” She noticed that as she spoke, she slipped into her “academic” voice, something she'd developed over the years to sound more confident and be taken more seriously. She hadn't meant to do it, but it had become habit for her anytime she explained something.

“Very good, I thought it was just a myth when Ben first told me about it, so you're ahead of the race already. Now tell me how you use Magic, in your universe. What exactly do you think or do when you tap into that power. I think it might help you learn a little better if we work from a base you already know.” He smiled as he sensed her beginning to relax. It was nice that she was excited to learn, but it also made her tense, and tension was about as far from where he wanted her to be as was physically possible.

“Well with Magic, it's all about opening yourself up to the world around you, feeling the push and pull of the energy in the air. Like if I wanted to do a spell to help you be a little more lucky, I would open my mind to your specific wavelength and manipulate it to always land on the favorable side of any outcome.” She said, her hands moving as she spoke. Her colleagues used to joke that if they taped her hands down she wouldn't be able to string two words together.

“That's how Ben explained The Force to me, looks like we were right about them being the same thing.” Luke said, feeling himself relax as well. He'd been so worried about adapting what he knew to fit how she would need to learn that he hadn't stopped to think about how close the two energy sources already were. If she was already this far along then training her should be a snap.

“Well then, I guess all I really need are the particulars then huh?” She asked, the excited smile returning to her face. He could tell what she was thinking without even having to access the link between them, and while he thought it was cute to see her like this, he had to squash her hopes.

“Not so fast. I won't be teaching how to lift or move a single speck of dust until we get your emotions under control. With as erratic as you are right now you could easily upset the whole ship. Meditation first, levitation later.” He said, extending a finger in a mock impression of Han. Ori laughed and nodded, covering her disappointment in an effort to spare his feelings. It was something he'd noticed about her when they first met. She was perfectly fine with emoting to a ridiculous degree when she was alone, but the moment someone else was around her, she would stuff all her feelings so far down in her mind that not even she could reach them again.

“Just bear in mind, ADHD kid here, meditation has never been possible for me in the past.” She pointed to her head and mimed a spreading web with her fingers, reminding him of the ever present swirl of thoughts she had to deal with on a daily basis. He nodded and his face became almost completely passive for a moment before he seemed to shake himself out of it.

“Okay, so meditation isn't the only way you can center yourself. Visualization can work too, it just takes a little longer. Think you can handle that?” He asked, feeling apprehension beginning to creep into his mind. He really wanted to be able to teach her what she needed to know, but what if he couldn't? He hadn't exactly been doing this whole Jedi thing for very long himself, what if he wasn't ready to teach another?

“Visualization is a common technique in therapy, I think I should be able to do that one. What am I visualizing?” She asked, relaxing her shoulders, placing her hands on her knees, and closing her eyes. He watched as her face fell into absolute stillness, though her mind was still buzzing with activity, and was struck by how different she seemed to be in that moment. He'd never met anyone with a mind like hers. It was a paradox, chaotic yet structured, always alive with activity yet completely still, it was like her mind and her brain were two different things occupying the same space and she could subconsciously choose which one she would be using. It was fascinating to watch from the outside.

“Picture a line, any color, any size, doesn't matter. That line is The Force. Now see the line as it touches you.” He watched as her expression began to dance all over the spectrum. At first there was simply peace, then it began to shift to confusion, frustration, then finally satisfaction as she brought her focus to where it was needed. He felt it when she made contact with The Force, like a ripple in an otherwise still pond, and he felt his own heart jump as the emotions he was getting from her became sharper and far more varied.

“When it hits me it just fades away.” She said, turning her closed eyes down to her own chest. This confused him as he could see the web of her own Force print quite easily, but perhaps she wasn't thinking properly.

“Don't try to structure what you're seeing, just follow the energy.” He said, giving their tenuous connection a tiny nudge in the hopes that she would be able to follow it. A gasp brought a smile to his face as he felt her switch from her brain to her mind.

“Whoa, that's me? What do the colors mean?” She asked, her inner eye flying over all the different lines and colors she could see floating around her face. It was strange, seeing herself from the outside, like she was a ghost or something, but she wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste. Her brain began cataloging every detail, every color, every line and smudge she could see.

“They mean whatever you want them to mean. The way I was taught was that each color corresponds to a specific emotion, but I've found that to be only about half true. Emotion does play a part in it, but it's not a direct connection like it was explained to me, more a loose correlation. Red is almost always something to do with passion, or intense emotion, where as blue if serenity or calm emotion. Beyond that it's your Force Print, you tell me.” He felt his cheeks begin to hurt as his smile widened at the look of concentration on her face. He could feel when she began to experiment, drawing up memories that would evoke different emotions so she could identify what each color correlated to.

Ori didn't know how much time was passing as she tested each of the colors. Luke had been right about red and blue, each color would take on a warm or cool tone depending on how strongly she felt the emotion attached to it, and she found that while some of her emotions blended well with the red, others began to look down right disgusting, the same holding true for the blue.

When she finally pulled herself back down to her body, she had to steady herself against the wave of dizziness and exhaustion that swept over her. Luke's hand flew out to support her shoulder as she began to tip sideways, pushing her softly back onto the bunk instead as her world set to spinning.

“Whoa, that's unpleasant.” She said, cradling her head in one hand while the other rested against the cool metal of the bunk wall. She needed something to remind her that she wasn't moving, that it was just her brain reacting to what she'd just done. “Is it always like this?” She asked, barely cracking a single eyelid to look up at him.

“Only at first. I got over it in a few days, and that was with Yoda literally riding my back about it.” He said, smiling as she laughed softly, though it quickly devolved into a groan. He thought he heard her mutter something along the lines of “crazy old frog” but decided not to press it. Instead he decided to simply scoop her from the bed and carry her to her bunk, which was only down the hall from his own, and let her rest up there until lunch time. If she was anything like him, she should be mostly over the cognitive back lash by then and they could move on to the next step.

“Thanks.” She said, her body already starting to drift off. “Don't think I coulda made that walk on my own.” She laughed softly, cocooning herself in the blankets the moment his arms were out of the way.

“You earned it, that was really impressive. We'll try something a little harder after lunch so rest up okay?” He said, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she rolled to face the wall of the bunk room. He heard a mumbled reply but seeing as it was followed immediately by a quiet snore he decided to ignore it. She would be ready, he had faith.


	5. Taking Action

The smell of food pulled Ori from sleep, drawing her drowsy gaze to the door where Luke stood with two trays of something that smelled amazing. She sat up slowly, making room for him on the bunk as he moved into the room.

“Are the newlyweds still at it?” She asked, looking over at the empty bunk and the missing suitcase. If she had to guess, she would say that she would be sleeping alone that night, but she wasn't one for guessing.

“On the mend from what I can tell, but then, I'm not exactly looking very closely.” Luke said, earning a sleepy laugh from his would be student. It was nice not having to explain things to her, that she just understood his history, though it was still a little disconcerting that he didn't know exactly what she knew about him. “Before we get back to training, I wanted to ask you something.” He looked up at her, stifling a laugh as he saw the piece of sandwich that poked out between her lips, the scene only made better by the look of consternation she was aiming at said sandwich.

“What's up?” She asked, though it sounded a bit muffled due to the food in her mouth. She took a massive swallow of water and set her sandwich down, looking up at him while he finished his own bite.

“You explained the whole “movie” thing to me, but I was wondering, what exactly do the movies cover? Of my life, I mean.” He said, feeling suddenly self conscious. For all he knew she'd seen him naked already, though he doubted it, if the flashes of attraction he'd had the night before were anything to go off of.

“Well it starts with A New Hope, which is when you get 3PO and R2 and ends with Return of the Jedi where the Emperor is destroyed by Vader. The timeline is a little sporadic, skipping whole years between the movies, but it hits the high points. The death of your aunt and uncle, Obi Wan fighting Vader, Yoda's training, both times you fought Vader and the whole mess on Endor, all the action.” She blushed as she spoke, her voice getting progressively quieter until she was practically whispering and he couldn't help but laugh at the second hand embarrassment. It was odd to hear someone talk about moments in his life as if they were discussing the weather, so matter of fact and emotionless, but then, she hadn't known it was all real at the time.

“So you know Vader was actually Anakin Skywalker, my father.” He said, feeling a strange kind of tension beginning to rise inside him. Was he afraid of her reaction? Afraid of what she might think? He didn't know, all he knew was that something about the question made him worry.

“Yeah, tragic story, not just for you, but for him. He used to be a great Jedi before Palpatine got his hooks in him. I never liked that he died, I always thought it was unfair.” She clapped a hand over her mouth, stopping herself from divulging any more than she already had, blushing up to her scalp as she remembered she was talking about a real person now. Luke's quiet laugh let her know she hadn't offended, but she decided to stay quiet all the same.

“It's alright, really. I didn't know how well and while I do feel a little cheated, it was for the best. What kind of life could he have had after all he'd done?” His eyes took on a sad tint as he looked down at the blanket that was bunched between them. He didn't want to admit how angry he was with the universe for taking his father from him just as they'd truly found each other, but then, The Force had a will all its own and he was simply caught in its flow.

“I had to tell myself that for a long time after my mother's death. She was really sick for a long time and slipped into a “persistent vegetative state”, fancy medical talk for being brain dead, and I had to help my dad decide to pull the plug. I was really angry for a long time, but she was already gone.” She watched as something changed behind his eyes, a new kind of light shining in them as he found a kindred spirit. She knew how good it felt to have someone understand your pain and she was happy to be that person for him in this moment.

“You sound like you know his history. Did they make movies about him too?” He asked. His tone was playful, joking and light, but secretly he was wishing her to say yes, to tell him more about the man he never got to know.

“They did actually, a three part prequel to the movies they made about you. Most people in my world don't like them, but I do, even if they are a bit problematic. I can tell you about them if you want.” She watched as his face seemed to grow younger, a bright smile crossing it as he nodded.

“Let me go get Leia, she'll want to hear this too.” He stood from the bunk and walked briskly from the room, calling his sister's name as he moved to alert her to his approach. She remembered having to do that when she lived with her brother, the advanced warning was all that kept them from seeing something that would scar them both for life on more than one occasion and it brought a smile to her face. She was pulled from the memory by twin sets of footsteps on the floor outside, joined a moment later by two excited faces.

“Okay, so let me just preface this by saying that there will be some discrepancies to what you remember, for instance, Leia, you said you remember your mother, but in the prequel movies your mother dies in child birth. If that happens, just go with what you know and chalk it up to the director being an ass, cause he is.” She watched as the twins laughed softly, clearly a little nervous about what they were going to hear, but receptive none the less. She drew a breath and launched into the story of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala and how their lives changed the galaxy forever.

By the time she was finished, neither twin could form words. They couldn't believe that their parents had done such amazing, and sometimes terrifying things. Luke smiled as he finally came to understand where his interest in machinery had come from and why he was so gifted with The Force. Leia sniffed as she remembered the face of her mother, so soft and sad, looking down at her and smiling, soft chocolate curls falling around her ailing face. She'd been so much more than that one image could ever convey. A tear streaked down her cheek, wiped away by her brother's hand, and she leaned into him, feeling a whole new connection to him now that all the holes had been filled in.

“Thank you Oria, this is the most precious gift anyone could ever have given me.” She said, turning tear filled eyes to her new friend. Ori simply nodded, feeling a strange mixture of happiness and sadness as she watched the siblings process everything she'd said. It was like a picture of all the things she'd lost, perfectly encapsulated and presented before her. She sniffled softly as Luke looked toward her, his eyes full of gratitude and happiness. 

They sat in silence for a long time, each one lost in their own thoughts. Luke and Leia were trying to commit as much as they could to memory of what Ori had told them while Ori was simply reliving the memories of watching the movies with her brother. They'd both been young when the prequels came out, prime age to watch them and love them, to grow with the characters as the other movies came out and appreciate them for what they were, warts and all. 

She remembered all the arguments she had with him after the third movie, about the plot holes it set up in the originals and how they could be solved. They'd almost come to blows over Leia being able to remember her mother issue and had been grounded for a week each for breaking one of their father's favorite records. Neither of them ever fessed up to who had actually broken it, their father thought they were simply covering for each other, but they honestly didn't know, it had fallen to the floor just as they started wrestling around and had rolled over it.

“Ori? You okay?” Luke's voice called her from the memory, alerting her to twin sets of eyes on her face and the wet tracks that ran down her cheeks. She wiped hastily at the tears, as if that would erase the knowledge of their existence from the man in front of her, but he simply stared, waiting for her to answer.

“I'm fine, just another memory, a good one this time. I was remembering my brother and I arguing over the movies as they came out, trying to make them fit perfectly with what we knew of the original movies timeline.” She sniffed softly, a genuine smile crossing her face as the twins laughed.

“You have a brother?” Leia asked, scooting a little closer to her and taking her hand. Ori tightened her grip around it reflexively, relaxing a moment later as the fear passed. Would that ever stop she wondered. Would there be a day when she could simply hold a hand without having to grip it for dear life? She shook her head to clear it of the thought, catching the tail end of a pained look on Luke's face and turned to Leia.

“Yeah, his name is Brian and he's just barely a year older than me. Mom always used to joke that we were twins and I just took a bit longer to come out. He was always such a rotten kid, he would pull my hair and hide my stuff when I made him mad, but he would always tell me where it was after he'd calmed down. He was the one that pushed me toward the sciences. I wanted to be a writer.” She laughed softly, remembering the conversation they'd had at the end of her senior year. He'd come home for Spring Break, making a big show of being there instead of on a beach somewhere with sun, but she knew he'd just come back cause he missed them.

Their father had gone out that night, some kind of speed dating thing one of his coworkers was insisting he go to, and she was sitting at a table scattered with all kinds of brochures and requirement lists that had her head spinning. She knew what she wanted to do, kind of, but she didn't know how to go about doing it. Her brother had walked through the door with pizza and sodas in hand and helped her weed out all the schools that didn't fit her dream, leaving them with a few universities and a couple art schools that had exciting writing programs.

He'd laughed at the dichotomy, pointing out that she wasn't willing to part with the universities due to their science programs but was willing to skip the art school cause “she could always just take writing classes at a university along with science courses”. That was the moment it had clicked for her, the difference between a hobby and a career and she'd sent off her application the next week. She'd thanked him in every graduation speech she'd ever given and had been planning to include him in the acknowledgments in the paper she and Suzie were gonna write when they confirmed their theories, guess that wouldn't happen now.

“Sounds like a good guy.” Luke said, sensing the heart break and loneliness beginning to swell in her mind, turning her Force print an ugly shade of grayish purple. He reached out, placing a hand on her knee and rubbing a small circle, letting her know she wasn't alone, he was there for her if she needed him. 

“I think I'm gonna skip dinner tonight, I'm still all messed up from earlier. Is it okay if we pick training up tomorrow?” She asked, looking from his hand to his eyes, watching the various emotions play behind them. She saw acceptance and understanding, but there was a strange kind of knowing gleam there as well, like he knew what she was really doing. There was also a sense of determination, like this was the last time she would get away with it. He nodded, motioning for Leia to follow him as he got up, leaving the room without another word.

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Luke felt a strange sense of anger as Oria sent him away, like she was rejecting him for some reason. He knew it was foolish, that it was probably painful for her to see him so close to his sister when she had no one left of her own family to turn to, but he couldn't get past the sense that she was hiding something from him.

“What's wrong?” Leia asked, looking up from the data pad she'd been reading. They would be landing soon and she wanted to get in every last bit of information about the conference that her brain could hold before they got there.

“Oria is hiding something from me. I can't put my finger on how I know or what it is, but she is, and I don't know why.” He looked over to his twin, watching as different emotions played across her face. She'd felt it too, though perhaps not as keenly, but she didn't seem troubled by it. Was he being too sensitive? Making something out of nothing?

“She's probably hiding a lot of things Luke. Think what you would do if you'd lost as much as she has. She's trying, and that's what you should focus on, she'd open up when she's ready. I know it can be frustrating, especially if you're training her, but you can't force it or she'll probably lock herself back in the brig.” Leia smiled softly, resting her hand over his, giving it a small squeeze, and he felt his tension begin to bleed away. He smiled and pulled her into a one armed hug before getting up from the bench. He needed to center himself, get rid of some of the emotions he couldn't deal with at the moment, and find his peace before they landed.

“Would you make sure Oria is up and ready when we land, I think she should be at the conference.” He nodded as his sister gave him a thumbs up, heading down the corridor to his room. Something didn't feel right to him, like when a puzzle is missing a piece, but he couldn't wrap his mind around what it was. He knew it had to do with Oria, knew it was something that involved her universe, but without more information it was just a vague feeling that left him frustrated and on edge. He needed to relax.

He sighed as his door closed behind him, blocking out the sounds of the ship and the people aboard her and giving him the first layer of peace he needed to go about calming his mind. The next was easy enough, remove the layers of clothing he wore to keep up the appearance expected of his rank. He laid in his bunk, feeling the soft sheets below him and the cool air above, centering himself in the space in between and focusing on simply breathing. 

As his body fell into a trance, his mind expanded, seeing not only himself and his room, but the whole ship, the space through which is moved, and the worlds around them. He'd never tried to move beyond this point, beyond his immediate surroundings, but as he felt that same sense of wrongness, he decided to try. He allowed the web of The Force to spread out further and further, taking in more and more of the galaxy as he moved past stars and planets, ships and moons, tracing this sense of wrong to a dark little world at the center. There was something there, something tied to Oria, reaching out to her, but it wasn't powerful enough yet to make contact.

He pulled himself sharply back to the ship, searching out the mind of the woman he was trying to understand and found something he wasn't prepared for. Her Force print was a single color, opaque and hovering over her, hiding her body from his view. The dark magenta haze seemed to pulse and writhe as he reached for it, shooting pure pleasure down his spine and imprinting a single image in his mind. He saw himself, bare and breathless, kissing Oria like his life depended on it. 

He snapped back to his physical body with a gasp, his whole body flushed and tingling as the remnants of the feeling worked their way through the link, sliding phantom fingers down his skin and setting his nerves to buzzing. A knock broke him from his hazy thoughts.

“Hang on a second.” He called, rushing to get dressed as Leia's voice floated through the door. He ran a hand through his hair, tousling away the proof of his embarrassment before pressing the hatch release and allowing his sister in.

“Are you okay? You look a little ruffled.” She asked, pointing toward his hair and still red face. He laughed and waved off the question.

“I'm fine, just doing a little training. What's up?” He asked, looking down to the data pad in her hand. She held it up for him and he could see that a space had been left on the docket for any issues that hadn't been resolved by the time the conference ended. 

“Do you think we should mention her?” Leia looked up at him, her eyes concerned. He knew what she was thinking, he'd been thinking it as well. The conference was meant to cover all potential threats still left in the galaxy that could pose a problem to the burgeoning Republic, and visitors from another universe would certainly fit that description. But were they really willing to open Oria up to that kind of scrutiny? She already felt like an outsider, and was just coming to grips with the fact that this was her home now. Did they really want to make her relive that so soon?

“Let's talk to her about it first. Remember that the experiment was a failure, technically, so no one else will be coming for a while at least.” Luke said, watching as his sister's shoulders seemed to straighten a little. No wonder she'd been so snippy with Han earlier, carrying that kind of weight around would make anyone a little cranky.

“You're right. Thanks. Oh, you may wanna get ready, Han says we'll hit atmosphere in a few minutes. I'll go make sure Oria is up and about.” She said, smiling and ducking back out into the hallway. Luke felt a smile pull at the edges of his lips, oh she was awake alright, or at least, part of her was.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Ori stretched as Leia took her through what would happen when they landed. She was to stick close to Luke and Han, not talk to anyone just yet, and try to blend in. She'd made a joke about her hair standing out, which seemed to put the princess at ease and they'd set about getting her ready. 

While Leia's shirts were a few sizes too small for her, the dresses were another matter entirely. Ori had always loved the dress designs in the Star Wars movies, all the flowing fabrics and generous silhouettes had made her wish she was able to wear something like that, and now she got to.

She spun on the spot, giggling girlishly as the skirt flared out and fluttered in the air around her, the slippers barely glinting as they caught the light. She'd never been much of a fan of pink, but the dark magenta color had called to her for some reason, and she had to admit, it looked good. It made her eyes pop and her hair seem even more vibrant than it already was, turning her into one huge floating jewel tone, and she hadn't even done her make up yet. 

She'd never had a sister, someone who could help her with her hair and make up, and as such had never had the pleasure of someone combing gently through her curls and brushing powders and colors across her face until she barely looked like herself. Her make up had always been a little drab, mostly neutrals and light color to highlight what she naturally had, but this was a special event and Leia said she would stand out more if she was under dressed. 

An hour passed with both girls helping the other get presentable all the while chatting about everything from politics to art to music until Leia decided it was time to broach the subject that made her the most nervous. She caught eyes with Oria in the mirror, stilling the woman's lips mid sentence and drew in a calming breath.

“I wanted to ask you something, but I didn't know how to go about it, so I'm just gonna say it. Would you be alright with the conference knowing where you come from?” She waited for the anger, the insult, the unhappy breaking of the familial bubble they'd formed, but it never came.

“I thought that was why you guys wanted me there. I mean it only makes sense to let them know it's possible. I mean, I'm pretty sure when the tunnel broke down the machine would've fritzed out too, but we can't know that for sure, and if I don't make it back, people might come looking.” The expression on her face must've been funny to Leia as she immediately started laughing, shaking loose the brain Ori had been working on. “Hey, hold still giggles, this isn't as easy as it looks ya know.” She smiled, going back to the tricky business of getting her friend's hair to stay in place.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Luke stood by Han, dressed in his black robes, medals and ribbons in place, waiting for the ladies to come around the corner. He could feel the happiness bubbling away in what had once been the only crew quarters at the back of the ship, and he was curious about what the two could be doing that was so entertaining. 

“If they don't get out here in the next five minutes, I'm going in after them.” Han said, clearly fed up with waiting. Luke laughed and patted him softly on the shoulder.

“I'll take care of the Falcon for you once you're gone.” He said, earning a gruff laugh and an amused hoot from Chewie. He still couldn't believe the direction his life had taken. Not even a decade ago he was a clueless farm boy, longing to be out amongst the stars with his friends, working for the Empire. Then he'd lost everything he thought he knew and discovered a family he didn't even know he had. Now, here he stood with the man that was his brother is all but blood, waiting for his sister to come and accompany him to a conference where he would speak to all the most powerful people in their new Republic. It was enough to make any person feel beyond lucky.

The whisper of fabric on metal drew his attention as the women rounded the curved corridor to meet them at the ramp. Han's jaw hit the floor as he saw Leia, resplendent in a vibrant orange gown, gold detailing setting off the seams and highlighting her thin waist. Her hair was done up in some intricate bun, made of woven braids and what looked like gold ribbon and he almost didn't recognize her face under the masterfully applied make up. She blushed softly as Han whistled, presenting his arm to her and pulling her in tight.

But his eyes were drawn back to the woman who would be his partner for the evening and he felt his heart nearly stop at the sight of her. Unlike Leia, her hair was left mostly down, crimson ringlets bouncing against her chest and shoulders as she walked. Her dress was the same shade her Force print had been and he felt a rush of desire as he watched the way the fabric of the dress swayed and moved over her curves. Her eyes stood out against the smoky purple that decorated her lids, her lips only a shade or two darker than her hair seemed to beg for him to kiss her and he had to fight to control his emotions as he too held an arm out.

Her skin was like fire as her arm looped over his, her hand resting on his bicep in a delicate fanning gesture. He had to swallow down a whistle of his own, opting instead for a whispered compliment as he led them down the ramp. He watched as she barely lifted the skirt, revealing gemmed slippers he'd bought for Leia on the day they decided was their birthday, and felt a spike of irritation shoot through him.

As if she could sense it, Leia turned her head to meet his eyes and he could see the mischief there, dancing merrily in the warm brown irises. So she had caught on to the growing attraction he was feeling for their new friend. Of course she had, and of course she would choose this way to tell him she approved. He narrowed his eyes playfully at her before schooling his features into that of the stoic Jedi Knight he was supposed to be.

“Should I look serious too?” Ori asked, looking up at his suddenly changed expression. “I don't want to make you look foolish by smiling at everyone.” She said, letting the playful tone creep into her voice.

“I'm sure you've dealt with interviews before. Look like you looked then.” He said, flashing her a brief smile.

“Drunk, got it.” She said, turning to face forward, adopting her “science” face as Suzie had always called it. She heard a barely stifled chuckle from just above her head and chalked a win up for herself.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

It was like navigating a mine field after they left the hangar. At first there weren't many people, just a few that would stop and say hi or congratulate Leia on her appointment to the Senate, but then they went outside. There were people everywhere, strange camera held in their hands, questions shouted at them from every direction, it was enough to make Ori want to bolt, but as her hand tightened on Luke's arm, she felt a strange sense of calm flow through her and she was able to relax.

The Senate chamber was equally as intense, though for wildly different reasons. Luke had given a long speech about the fall of the Empire, the redemption of Darth Vader, and his intentions of going out in search of a new generation of Force sensitives that could be trained to follow the old ways. He explained that before there were Sith and Jedi, there were simply those who could and did use The Force, some for good, some for evil, but always there was balance. He intended to find that balance again, and make sure that the tragedies of the past were never repeated.

From there, Leia took the floor, going over the more mundane side of the reconstruction, outlining a plan to slowly incorporate more and more systems into their new Republic until every last planet could have their say in the way things were run. It was ambitious and, to some, impossible, but she felt it was the right way to go. Finally it came time to explain who their special guest was and why she was there.

“I know some of you are curious who the woman sitting beside my brother is, and why she's been allowed here today. Her name is Dr. Oria Jones and, simply put, she isn't from this universe. If it please the floor I'll allow her to explain further.” She motioned for Oria to stand and approach the podium, her dress swishing across the stone floor almost loudly in the absolute silence that followed Leia's pornouncement.

“Thank you Senator Organa. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is going to be hard to believe, but I want you to know that I am telling the truth when I tell you my story. I tell you, not because I've been forced to, but because I think you have a right to know that you aren't alone, that there are an infinite number of universes much like your own, and an infinite number so different you wouldn't even recognize them, all stacked up, barely an arm's reach away. And I think you deserve to know that it is possible to pass from one to the other. Five days ago, I was on my home planet of Earth, in the Milky Way galaxy, in the year 2018...” She let her eyes wander as she told her story, watching as the faces of the gathered senators passed through every emotion imaginable.

Some didn't believe her, she'd expected that, while others seemed almost excited by what she had to say. It was strange, to see so many reactions to the same words, all at the same time, but she found that as she continued, all the faces became the same. The same sadness, the same pity, the same horror, all reflecting what she felt inside as she pulled open her wound yet again for strangers to see. As she finished, a slow round of applause began in the chamber, flowing like a wave from the front to the back until every person in the room was on their feet, even Han seemed moved this time, looking at her as if he'd never seen her before today. She said a quick thank you and retreated back to her seat, leaving the next speaker to stand in her place.

“You did so good.” Leia said, supporting her as she sagged against her shoulder. “Thank you for going through all of that again, I know that can't have been easy.” She let Oria grip her hand tightly, ignoring the pain it caused.

“Thanks. If I pass out, just leave me here.” Ori felt like she was hyperventilating, her head spinning, her heart racing, her chest burning for air even as she dragged in breath after breath. It wasn't until Luke's hand closed around her arm and pulled her toward a door that she realized she might actually be having trouble. 

The warm night air hit her like a slap in the face, pulling her back to the moment, back to reality where she was safe. Luke's arms were around her, supporting her, keeping her on her feet as her mind came down from the panic attack she hadn't realized she'd been having. She drew in great gasps of air, feeling the clenching fire in her chest slowly abate, her world slowly coming to a stop as her brain got the oxygen it needed.

“What happened?” He asked, catching her eyes and holding her there. He looked so worried, as if he'd never seen anyone have a panic attack before. Who knows, maybe he hadn't, mental illness didn't seem to exist in this universe so this might very well have been the first one he experienced.

“It's called a panic attack, it happens when the brain can't properly control anxiety. It's like your brain is in one room screaming out orders and your body is in another room with no idea what to do. The dissonance causes panic, which causing shaking, hyperventilation, dizziness, anxiety, various body pains, heart palpitations, sweating, a handful of other minor symptoms and then eventually you either pass out or go into shock and then pass out. They suck.” She could feel her whole body shaking, trying to rid itself of the adrenaline it had dumped into her blood stream to aid in a fight that wasn't happening, and her teeth began to chatter as her body temperature dropped. She really hated panic attacks.

“What caused it?” He asked, even though he already knew the answer. He just wanted a reason to keep holding her, keep talking to her, keep her mind focused on something other than whatever thought had made her feel those awful sensations. 

“Probably a mix of speaking in public, which has always been a fear for me, and the whole retelling how I got here, thing.” She made some non-commital gesture with her hands and sagged against him, her breath sighing against his neck as she drew another calming breath.

“How can I help?” He asked, hating the way she still shook, trembling in his arms like she was still afraid. He could feel that she wasn't, that it was just something her body had to go through, but he wanted it to stop.

“Distraction is usually good, or liquor, liquor works too.” She said, trying to force a smile. She gasped as he pulled her forward, his lips searing against her own in a way that made her mind go blank. Her heart leapt into her throat, turning cartwheels and thumping madly against her chest as she parted her lips for him, deepening the kiss until her world began to spin.

They broke apart, each drawing in a gasping breath as their eyes spoke volumes to each other. Not here, not now, not yet. She was still too raw and he was still her teacher, but soon, they would follow up on what just happened and see where it led.


	6. Painful Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so before we kick this off I want to apologize for taking so long to get this posted. The beginning of this month was hellish for me as it was the anniversary of my step-father's death and then I went to visit a friend in a different state. I uploaded several chapters to my Google Docs folder, but they became corrupted somehow. I am back home now, but the files appear to have been deleted, I suspect the friend that I asked to house sit while I was gone, but I have no way to prove it. As such it will take a few more days to get the next chapters up, for which I again apologize, but hopefully, this will be the last major delay. Anyway, enough excuses from me, on with the chapter!

“Trek One to mission control, connection is stable, are you reading?” Suzie's voice came over the comms channel, sending a thrill through Ori's chest. They were really doing this. With each step, they were going further and further away from their own universe and moving toward another. All the years they'd worked toward it and here they were, stepping on the very fabric of space/time. 

“Roger Trek One, readings stable and constant.” The response was so clear that he might've been standing right next to her, but for some reason, she was beginning to feel almost afraid. Her eyes darted around the tunnel, taking in every detail, trying to reassure herself that it was just her anxiety playing up, feeding on her excitement just like it always did, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

“Ori, you okay over there?” Suzie's voice brought her back to ground, calming her spiraling thoughts and putting her back on the mission track. She looked over and gave a thumbs up, smiling ear to ear despite the nagging voice in the back of her mind that was telling her to turn tail and run back to the ever shrinking opening they'd come through.

“Free and clear Suzie Q, just taking it all in.” She gestured around them, seeing a mirror of her own glee and excitement well up in her friend's eyes. She'd always envied Suzie for her ability to live in the moment. There were never any what ifs in her mind, simply what she believed, what she wanted, and what she was doing. It sounded like heaven to Ori.

“We're actually doing this Ori. We're about to step into another universe. I told you the world would change today.” She squared her shoulders and picked up her pace, Ori adjusting to compensate so that they could stay side by side. She didn't know what was going to be on the other end of this tunnel, but she didn't want her friend to face it alone.

She felt the tunnel floor shake, both women stilling, their senses tuned for any other anomalies that could spell trouble for them or let them know it was time to abort and head back.

“Trek Two to Mission Control, experiencing slight thread vibration. Can you give me a reading on the stability of the tunnel.” She held out a hand for Suzie, her feeling of unease ramping into full blown fear as the shake became a tremor.

“Mission Control to Trek Two, reading appear stable. What is the nature of the anomaly?” The answer caused her mind to snap between what she was feeling and what the readings were telling her. How could they be feeling this if the tunnel was stable. Perhaps it was just reverberations from their own footsteps?

“The tunnel is shaking.” She waited while keys were pressed on the other side of the comms channel. What were they checking? Nothing in their calculations had indicated any kind of turbulence in the void between the planes.

“Roger that Trek Two, reading faint fluctuations in field cohesion. Recommend turning back.” There was fear in the tech's voice, more than would be present for a minor fluctuation, and she found herself looking over to her friend, her grip tightening as a loud snap sounded around them, the floor losing almost all stability.

“Suzie, we've gotta...” Her statement was lost as the floor of the tunnel unraveled beneath them, dropping her on her ass as the tunnel filled with sound. There wasn't supposed to be anything in the void, no air, no pressure, no light, no sound, just a blank expanse of nothing, but that was not what met her eyes as she and Suzie both clung to the slowly unraveling threads of their only barrier.

Around her, sucking at her feet, was a great gaping maw of blackness. The air that had made the tunnel habitable rushed past her in massive gusts, buffeting her around in the current as she pulled on the thread she'd managed to grab hold of, her other hand still clamped tightly around Suzie's. She fought to find purchase, pulling them both slowly back until Suzie could reach out and grab one of the tendrils of light herself, but they never seemed to get anywhere.

The void screamed at them both, clawing to pull them in, to swallow them whole, the glowing strands of their universe retreating and falling away into the inky nothing. She fought and she struggled, pulling them both toward the still swirling portal that was now their only escape.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************

She woke to find herself on the floor, sheets tangled around her ankles, hands bloody from where she'd clenched her nails down into the delicate flesh of her palms, and one terrified looking Luke Skywalker kneeling over her, his warm hand still pressed to her forehead. She wanted to thank him, to wave him off and tell him she was alright, but as she opened her mouth to speak, all the came out was a strangled sob.

She felt herself being pulled forward, the sheets seeming to untangle themselves from her legs, leaving her sweat soaked skin exposed to the open air. Tears streamed soundlessly down her face, her shoulders shaking with each gasping breath she took, the air stinging a throat torn raw from the screaming she'd no doubt been doing in her sleep.

A hand began to rub soothing circles against her back, each rotation pulling her further and further from the memory that seemed to haunt every moment that wasn't otherwise engaged. She could still feel the tunnel's springy texture under her feet, could still feel the faint warmth of the light the strands emitted. Her hands still burned with remembered pain, and she could almost feel the hand she'd clasped so desperately in her own, trying in vain to save her friend.

“Oria, come back, you're safe now.” Luke's voice was soft and sure, giving her a life line to follow back out of her troubled subconscious. She tried to pull up what little they'd covered in training, tried to visualize her emotions, but all she could see when she closed her eyes was Suzie's terrified face, looking up at her through the window of her helment, surrounded on all sides by that gaping black maw. 

His heart beat was what ended up drawing her focus, thudding softly against her cheek, registering as a dull rhythmic thud that she could verify and count. She began ticking off beats in her mind, timing them out, matching them against her own racing muscle until it began to slow. She tried to match his breathing, inhaling with him, exhaling with him, reminding her body how to be calm, until her world was no longer spinning and her mind began to still.

“I saw it.” He said, his tone so full of fear and pain. It shocked her to hear what she felt coming from him, a person who seemed so far removed from it all, but it also made her feel strangely better. At least now she could confirm she wasn't over reacting to the whole ordeal.

“I'm sorry.” She said, pulling slowly out of his arms. She'd managed to worm her way to a corner in her sleep, her body recreating the desperate, and ultimately futile, struggle to save her friend from oblivion. She curled her body against the wall, resting her head against the cool surface. “No one should have to witness that.” She said, her eyes gazing out into the middle distance.

“No, they shouldn't.” Luke said, his voice heavy with meaning. “You're bleeding.” He reached out, his fingers closing over her wrist, only to have her wrench it away, pure blind fear racing to him across the link he still hadn't managed to close. 

“Sorry. Just...don't, please.” She said, pulling her hands in to rest against her chest. He could see her Force Print darkening, turning an ugly shade of plum, looking almost like a bruise all around her, and he felt his heart constrict with pain.

“I'll be right back.” He said, standing and striding quickly to his room, pulling out the first aid kit he'd taken to carrying around with him. Han had a tendency to injure himself in some small way on almost every mission and Luke had learned that it was always better to be prepared. He took a moment to calm himself down as he moved back into Oria's room, finding her still curled in the same corner where he'd left her. It wouldn't do to have them both panicked and upset, and of the two, she had far more right to it than he did.

He knelt beside her, opening the first aid kit and holding his hand out to her, palm up and fingers relaxed. He smiled softly as she mimicked his motion, resting her hand in his, though she maintained that worrying blank eyed stare at something only she could see. Tears continued to spill unheeded down her cheeks, though the sobbing had stopped, and he busied himself with bandaging her hands to distract from the worry and anger he could feel welling up in his chest.

While his hands worked, his mind began to categorize everything he'd seen when her mind had invaded his own. He'd seen it all, every expression, every detail, the abject terror on her friend's face as she slipped away into the black emptiness that existed between the worlds. No wonder she was having such a hard time controlling her emotions.

“I'm sorry I woke you.” Her voice broke him from his thoughts, pulling his attention back to the moment at hand, and the weary eyes that were trained on his troubled face. She looked so small in that moment, so tiny and scared that he felt his heart break. How he wished he could erase the horror from her mind, make it so that he never had to see that look again, but only she could do that.

“It's okay, like I said before, I would much rather you wake me than have you suffer through that alone. But we do need to talk about it Oria.” He watched as emotions flashed wildly across her face. First there was fear, then anger, a brief moment of understanding, and then a kind of stony resolution that he somehow knew could only be followed with a denial.

“I can't, not yet, not right now. I know I need to control my emotions, that fear and anger are a path to the dark side, but I just can't deal with it right now.” She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes as she spoke. She knew he would be disappointed at her refusal, would most likely be arming up for an argument, but she just couldn't bring herself to relive what she'd just seen again.

“Oria, it's more than that. You weren't screaming, at least not that I could hear, you woke me by projecting your memory into my mind. This link, it's stronger than it should be, stronger than anything I've ever seen or read about, and so long as you are refusing to deal with this, it'll affect the both of us. Now I want to give you time to heal, really I do, but I need to be able to focus.” He turned his hand slowly, giving her time to object before his fingers closed slowly over her wrist, joining their hands and sending a flash of panic across their link.

“Don't call me that.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes seemed fixated on the back of his hand, fresh tears welling up in her eyes as she once again became lost in memory. He was sorely tempted to peak into her mind, to figure out why her name made her so sad, but held himself back. It would set a very bad precedent to invade her mind twice in one night. He allowed her a moment to explain, to open up to him as he sorely wished she would.

“Not fond of your name?” He asked, trying to force a light tone to his voice. He knew it didn't sound sincere, that he sounded almost as defeated as she did, but he had to try. The heaviness of the air around them was almost too much to bear.

“No one calls me Oria anymore, only my mother ever used my full name. She said it was too beautiful to part with a single letter.” A small smile pulled at her lips as she spoke, making her seem all the more sad as a single tear slipped down her cheek.

“She was right, it is a beautiful name. Does it have a meaning?” He drew a slow breath as he felt the faint wisps of calm beginning to bleed into the swirling mass of pain and sadness that had been threatening to stifle them both. His heart warmed at the soft laugh that managed to push itself out of her lips, the smile lengthening as her Force Print began to lighten, the deep crimson tone bleeding away.

“Yeah, sort of. It's a town in Italy, a country on my planet, and apparently, it was the town where I was conceived. My mother was a strange individual.” She looked over at him, her eyes finally shedding the dull glaze that had made her seem to small and dim. He felt a smile tug at his own face as he watched her blush softly. He had to admit that it was an odd thing to be named for, but it seemed to fit her for some reason.

“There are worse things to be named for.” He said, laughing softly. He watched as she seemed to settle back into herself, drawing a deep breath, seemingly cleansing herself of the last of her fear, and he became suddenly aware of the warmth of her skin against his palm, as well as how his thumb seemed to be rubbing small circles into her wrist. She seemed to share his awareness, her hand slipping from his grasp as she closed in on herself.

“Thanks, I think I'll be okay if you wanna get back to sleep.” She said, pushing herself up from the floor and moving to collect the forgotten sheet from where it had landed on the floor. Luke did his best to ignore the way her body moved in the scant clothing she was wearing, barely keeping his eyes from trailing over the lines cast on her pale skin by the milky moonlight, reminding himself of what she'd been through within the past week.

“I can stay...” He caught himself before he could finish the sentence, opting instead to simply stand and walk slowly toward the door. He didn't want to leave, didn't want to risk having her fall back into the swirling mass of pain and fear that he'd barely managed to pull her from the first time, but he also understood better than most that you can't force help one someone who doesn't want it. He paused as he reached the door, turning back to look at her as she settled back on the mattress. She looked up at him, flashing a small smile and shaking her head gently, turning her gaze to the large window on the opposite side of the room as her mind slipped away.


	7. It Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to update this, I know I said I was gonna try and be more consistent, but life continues to kick me in the teeth and I've been playing catch up with all my writing. I'm working on the next few chapters now so hopefully I can get back on my once a week schedule and not be a late bastard anymore lol, but as always I make no promises.

The following morning was blissfully busy. Leia and Luke had been called away at first light to deal with some kind of emergency in the Senate chamber and Chewie had gone off to finish the work he'd begun on the Falcon the day before. This left Ori with a chance to breathe and simply exist for the first time since she'd arrived in this strange yet familiar universe. Han had given her a tiny recording device, something Luke had suggested before he left, to record her thoughts in, but as she sat in the center of her bed, her eyes staring blankly out the window, she couldn't think of a single thing to say.

“Come on girl, you're a scientist. There is so much here to remember, just push through it and go.” She muttered, her hand clenching around the tiny device until her knuckles cracked. She hated feeling like this, so weak and helpless, like she just couldn't get a handle on herself, but she couldn't see a way past it. How was she supposed to cope with losing literally every single thing she'd ever known.

She remembered stories of people who were displaced from their home, their country, hell, even their continent, and she'd always wondered how they ever got back their sense of self. But now she envied them. Sure they may not be where they'd grown up, but at least they were still on Earth. At least they could still look up at the sky and recognize the stars, see the moon, know the general color and shape of the faces around them. Here, there was nothing. Everything was different, everything was strange, even the humans didn't seem quite...human to her.

She sighed, holding the small device up to her lips the way Han had shown her and holding down the tiny button that would activate it.

“Mission report Trek Two. Experiment was a success. I've made contact with the indigenous life of this universe and boy, would you guys be shocked. The tunnel suffered a fatal stability collapse, Trek One, Dr Suzanne Bishop, deceased.” She drew a shaky breath as her voice failed her entirely. It dawned on her that this was the first time she'd said it out loud. She felt her throat tighten with the threat of tears at the corner of her eyes but swallowed them down, she had to at least get through this. "I'm gonna drop the formalities if it's all the same to you. You'll probably never hear this anyway. There's no way back and I'll never get home. If you do ever receive this, don't follow me. Tell my family...I'm sorry." She dropped the recorder onto the mattress, gasping in a breath as the tears overcame her again.

Gods she was tired of crying. Her mind swirled with all the things she'd never experience again, all the music she'd never get to listen to, the movies she'd never get to see. Her heart broke as she thought of her father, aging and dying without ever having known what happened to her. She saw her brother's face, pinched and worried as her colleagues tried to explain to him exactly what had happened, and why his sister would never again see his children. All the possibilities of the universe she'd been so eager to leave flashed across her mind in rapid succession.

“Hey kid!” Han's voice broke through the haze of anger and sorrow. She gasped as her body dropped a good foot or so back onto the bed, startling her more than it must've startled the captain when he'd walked in to find her both floating and sobbing in the murky twilight of evening. “What the hell was that?” He asked, moving into the room, his brows knitting together in a mixture of worry and anger.

“I don't know.” She whispered, looking down at her hands as if they would explain how she'd been holding herself in mid air. “I didn't mean to.” She felt a spike of sheer panic slice through the sadness and isolation, her eyes going wide as her mind struggled to find a rational explanation for what had just happened.

“Hey, whoa, don't do that.” Han said, his tone switching rapidly from anger to concern as yet more tears began to spill down her face. She knew she should feel embarrassed bawling like a scared child in front of a man who didn't even particularly like her, but this was just too much. She screwed her eyes shut as her breath began to hitch in her chest, her last ditch effort to hold back the sobs she could feel pushing their way up her throat. But instead of the admonishment she was expecting, so like the many she'd received from her father, only silence met her ears, and the feeling of two strong arms wrapping around her as the wrenching sound finally forced its way from her lips.

Time seemed to stop then, each second stretching into an eternity as her heart and mind both finally gave in to every negative emotion she'd had since before she left her own world. It was like the top had been broken off the bottle she'd so carefully maintained for so many years, and now all that pain and sadness, regret and isolation, all came spilling out in one massive wave.

Han kept her grounded through it all. He never said a word, never moved a muscle, simply sat like a stone and held her as her body vented the toxic mass she'd kept carefully hidden for most of her life. By the time her sobs went quiet, night had fallen, and as her mind returned to her, she could feel Luke's presence. 

“You back with us?” Han asked, slowly drawing his arms away, giving her time to object if necessary. She looked up at him, not sure what to expect, and felt her heart slowly begin to knit back together as she saw nothing but an open expression of concern. She sniffled and nodded, sitting slowly away from him as he stood up from the bed. “They've been out there for a while, want me to keep this closed?” He asked, pointing toward the door, a conspiratorial grin on his face.

She shook her head slowly, her temples already pounding from the pressure in her skull. She would have to face them both eventually, might as well get it over with while she was still in that hazy calm that always followed one of her break downs. Han nodded and pulled the door open, slipping out between the shoulders of the twins, both of whom were all but pressed against the door.

“Ori!” Leia gasped, taking in the hagard and reddened face of her friend. She looked like she'd been through hell, and even half of what Luke had been sensing was real, then she nearly had been. “Are you alright?” She asked, rushing over to the bed and sitting down, pulling the tired woman into a tight hug. 

“Not sure yet.” Ori replied, grimacing at the croaky roughness in her voice. She'd really done a number on it this time. “Sorry if I worried you.” She directed it at Leia, but knew that Luke would understand he was included as well.

“I'm just glad Han was here.” Luke said, joining his sister on Ori's other side. He pulled Ori gently from his sister's arms and guided her head down to rest against his shoulder instead, a blissful sense of calm slowly seeping into her mind. “Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked, his fingers tracing small lines over the skin of her hand. He wanted to hold it, to hold her, but would settle for this, for now.

“Too much to talk about all at once.” She said, her free hand forming the same web like gesture she always made when talking about her thoughts.

“I could help.” He said, holding up his free hand as well. He didn't want to go into her mind again, didn't want to be a crutch for her to lean on, but he could almost hear the thoughts buzzing away in her brain.

“Later?” She croaked, feeling the sense of panic rising in her chest. She didn't want to live through all that again. It hurt too much to think about once let alone twice in one afternoon.

“Now would be better.” Luke said, his voice even yet stern. He wasn't sure if pushing her was the right move, but she couldn't keep running from this. If he let her bottle it up again, she would just have another break down and who knows what would happen next time.

“Okay.” She sounded so tired, so unlike herself. She should be jumping at this head first, but instead she was trying everything she could to back down. It was like she as eleven all over again, sitting across from the little bitch that had made her life hell for years, finally being forced by people much older than her, to confront all the pain the girl had put her through. She'd sworn to herself then that it would be the last time she let herself be helpless, and yet here she was, cowering from her own emotions.

“Leia.” Luke said, the sound of fabric rustling over carpet letting Ori know that she was leaving. She felt her nerves kick up another notch as the door clicked quietly shut, and had to remind herself to breathe as Luke pulled away. She tried to draw in a deep breath, tried to remember any of the coping mechanisms that her therapist had taught her all those years ago, even tried to force herself into a visualization state, but nothing worked, her throat was closing up, her lungs struggling to pull in air, her eyes wide and staring blankly at the carpet, and then, just as suddenly as it had all come, it was gone.

She was no longer within herself. It was odd, taking a back seat in your own brain, but she wasn't about to complain, not when it got her out of a panic attack. A hand on her shoulder drew her attention to her teacher and friend, who was floating just beside her. 

“What did you do?” She asked, looking around at the black void they seemed to be floating in. It should've sent her straight into a tail spin, flashbacks, panic, fear and sadness should've been rushing into her mind by the bucket load, but nothing happened. It was like only her higher mind was active right now, her emotions simply turned off.

“I've taken you away from yourself for a moment. We need to talk, and I need you to be honest, you can't do that if you're crying. I'm actually surprised it worked, this is the first time I've ever tried it on someone else before.” Luke said, his face splitting into a proud smile. She felt herself returning the gesture, laughing softly as she was reminded of just what a farm boy he really was.

“Okay, well, let's talk.” She said, turning to face him. It felt odd, moving without a physical body, it was like playing with one of those VR headsets that always made her feel so sick. Just point at the place you want to be, with your mind instead of one of those ridiculous controllers, and poof, there you were. It was rather convenient.

“It would be easier if I just looked into your mind for the information I need. Think of it as a short cut. Do you trust me?” He asked, reaching a hand toward her forehead. For some reason, the gesture made her feel odd. Not quite afraid, she didn't think she was capable of fear at the moment, but as close to it as she was able to register.

“I would prefer to just talk if that's alright.” She said, slowly backing away from him. Now that her mind was awake to the idea of a threat, everything about this situation was beginning to feel bad. “Or maybe we could go rejoin the land of the living and I could get something to drink, lost a lot of water ya know, all those tears.” She laughed, or tried to, her mind seemed to be rejoining her brain, and with it came all the emotions she'd been feeling.

“There's no time for that. I need to see what is in your mind if we are to make any progress. It'll be over before you know it.” He didn't sound right, his words were wrong somehow, sending her mind reeling further backward toward her physical body until the void around them started to shrink. It was in that moment that she became aware of what was really wrong with the picture, his eyes, they weren't blue anymore.

She gasped in a breath as her body slammed forward, rocking back just as quickly as Luke forced her to look at him. She could feel fresh tears on her face and the tell tale dizziness of a panic attack hang over, but she couldn't remember going through it.

“What the hell was that?” She asked, pulling out of his grip and backing up onto the bed. Her eyes slid from one end of the room to the other, looking for the phantom Luke that had been with her before, but only saw the same familiar blue eyes that had become so important to her.

“I don't know. I was going to look into your mind, see if I could find the root of your panic, and then you were gone. Someone reached out and took you.” He joined her on the bed, his body rocking back against the head board as she threw herself into his arms. He sighed as he felt her shudder, thinking that he was in for another round of tears, but none came.

“He was trying to do the same thing, look into my head. He said he needed to see what was in there and that there was no time. Luke, he...he had your face.” She looked up at him and shuddered again, forcing herself to focus on the deep blue of his eyes. This was the real Luke, not some imposter, and she was safe. Silence fell following her words, each person lost in their own thoughts. 

“Come on. We're going out.” Luke said, pulling her from the bed as he stood. “You've been in here for two days, you need fresh air.” He started to pull her toward the door, stopping when he felt her go rigid. He released his grip on her wrist, turning to apologize, only to feel his blood run cold. She wasn't seeing him, not anymore. He didn't know what she was seeing, but it must've been terrifying judging by the look on her face. 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Ori stood, barefoot and freezing, in the center of a massive chamber. It was square, that much she could tell, and tapered up to a point at the peak of the roof. Some kind of pyramid? But why was she in a pyramid? Where was Luke? Where were her clothes?

She looked down at herself, feeling the frigid wind whip through the gauzy black fabric that was wrapped around her. She supposed it could be called a dress, if you squinted hard enough at it, but it left her feeling entirely too exposed for her liking. She turned slowly on the spot, trying to find any sign of life around her, anything that would explain how she seemingly transported from her room to wherever this was, but there was nothing, simply hazy darkness and red stone. Then the screaming started.

“ORI!” The voice was so familiar it hurt, and she found herself bounding in its direction before she could think. It was Suzie, she was alive! Her heart leapt into her throat as she pushed herself to go faster, needing to see her friend with her own two eyes. But when she finally reached the source of the sound, she felt her heart shatter.

Suzie was suspended in mid air, her arms and legs shackled to the muddy red bricks that seemed to make up this insane building, and she was hurt. Blood was caked into her hair, one eye was swollen shut, and her limbs were covered in bruises, welts, and sliver thin slices that leaked blood and plasma down onto the floor below her.

“Suzie!” She shouted, rushing forward into the center of the room, only becoming aware of the light that shone on her friend when she stepped into it. She felt her feet slipping in the crimson mess on the floor, but didn't spare it a thought. She had to get her friend out of here, wherever here was, and get her some help. “Don't worry, I'm gonna get you down.” She said, her eyes following the chains to where they were anchored into the walls. The bolts looked old, with enough force she could probably pull them free. 

She stood for a moment, her brain cycling through complex equations as she tried to figure out a way to get the force she would need to free the bolts from the wall, when a thought dropped into her mind. Force, The Force, she could just use it to pull the chains free.

“Okay Suzie, hold on just a sec, I've got an idea.” She extended a hand out toward the nearest chain, moving quickly through the steps Luke had taught her to establish a sort of imaginary chain around the bolt, and then, with a quick backward motion, she wrenched the metal from the stone and the chain fell free. She made quick work of the others, catching her friend as she fell and set about trying to get her awake enough to move.

“Ori?” Suzie's eye cracked open, the other too swollen to even move, and Ori felt her heart nearly burst with happiness. Her friend was here, she was alive. 

“Yeah suze, I'm here...I'm here.” She said, feeling tears prick at the edges of her vision. “Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here and all patched up. Can you walk?” She asked, sniffing softly as she thought of all the things she would be able to show her friend. 

Laughter began to sound somewhere close by, deep, rumbling, terrifying laughter that sent every animal instinct she had into red alert. They needed to get out of here now. She looped Suzie's arm around her neck, pulling the majority of her weight over onto her own torso and stood, dragging their combined weight back up the stairs to the edge of the room, but she never made it a step further.

Pain exploded across her body, racing through every vein and every nerve until she thought she would fly apart, and that damned laughter continued to play across the walls around her. Suzie's body vanished from her side, disappearing into nothing, as if it had never been, and her body slowly turned to see the scarred and pitted face of a very old man.

“Wonderful. I never dreamed you would be this powerful.” His voice was hoarse and cracked with age, but the edge of deadly intelligence remained. She knew who this was meant to be, who this had once been, and who, if she was very unlucky, this would be again. Fear, pure and primal, suffused her being, pulling her mind free from the grip of the old man and back into her body where she fell, gasping and sobbing, onto the carpet, Luke following her quickly to the ground.

“He's back...the Emperor...he's back.”


	8. Recuperation

Luke's face remained impassive as she relayed everything she'd seen, the words spilling out of her at a rapid pace. She didn't know if she was making any sense, jumping from description to fact to emotionally charged babbling as she raced to keep up with her panicked mind, but as she slowly fell silent, she could see the information filtering into her mentor's mind.

"And you're sure, it was him." Luke asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question. He could feel her fear, her conviction, he knew she was right, or at least she believed she was. She tried to speak, but her mind refused to form her chaotic thoughts into words. Her nod was like the whisper of a blade through the air, setting Luke's mind to spinning as he tried to calculate the outcome of this precarious situation.

"Luke?" Leia's voice called softly from the other side of the door, alerting them both to the presence of the world outside their little room. He knew he would have to explain it all to his sister, she deserved to know, she needed to know. But he didn't want to accept it yet. He didn't want to be thrown back into this conflict, to drag anyone else in after him.

"Come in Leia." His voice was softer than he'd intended, switching automatically into the introspective tone he'd learned from Obi-Wan. He felt the air shift as she opened the door, felt her worry and fear as she settled down onto the floor beside him. He hated that he had to put this on her shoulders, that he had to once again be the bearer of bad news, but it couldn't be helped. He opened his mouth to speak, trying to formulate exactly what he would say, but to his surprise, another voice beat him to it.

"I'm bad with being gentle so I'll just say it. The Emperor has returned." Ori felt like a bitch for being so blunt, but she'd never been one to beat around the bush, and this was hardly the time for her to start trying. "I know it's hard to believe, what with him being dropped down a reactor shaft and all, but apparently he had a back up." She watched as Leia moved rapidly through the five stages, her expression changing so quickly that it would've been comical, if not for the circumstances.

"You're sure?" She asked, her eyes turning to catch her brother's. It stung a little to have her information second guessed, but she couldn't deny the logic in getting a second, more trusted, opinion. Luke nodded, saving Ori from rehashing what she'd been through by explaining it himself.

Silence settled over them all as he finished speaking, each one turning to their own fears and worries as the situation settled in their minds. Ori knew she should be concerned about the Emperor, knew that Palpatine was a seriously dangerous man, no matter how fucked up and wounded he'd appeared, but all she could think about, all that her mind would focus on, was Suzie, strung up and suffering in that pyramid. Had she been real? Was she alive? Had he simply reached into her mind and used Suzie's face to get her close? She had so many questions.

"We have to investigate what you saw." Luke said, sounding as if it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do. He'd faced the wizened sith lord once already, and nearly lost. But now, he wasn't alone in the fight. He caught the thought before it could take root in his mind. He wasn't going to use Ori as a weapon. He wasn't going to pull her into this conflict. It wasn't her fight and he wasn't about to make her a target for that old man's vindictive mind.

"I was gonna say the same thing." Ori said, sounding far more confident than she felt. "If Suzie is alive, she's suffering. I have to help her if I can." She could see the argument forming in Luke's eyes, knew what he was going to say, and a large part of her was inclined to agree, but she wasn't about to sit on the sidelines. Palpatine had started something he wasn't ready for, he'd made it personal, and she was gonna make sure he felt it.

"Oria, I don't think you should go." Leia said, her eyes hard. She could feel the apprehension passing between the two, knew exactly where it was going to lead if left unaddressed, and she wasn't about to let her friend blunder into something she wasn't ready to face.

"Neither of you do. I'm not stupid, or blind. You two telegraph your emotions more than anyone I've ever met, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm going. He has my friend, or he made me think he has my friend as a way to hurt me and rile me up. Well I'm riled." She felt a familiar trickle of confidence bleed slowly into the miasma of fear and worry that had been clouding her mind since she got here, steeling her resolve and bringing a hard edge to her expression.

"Ori, please, it isn't safe, especially for you. I've faced him once already, I know how he thinks. Let me do this. If your friend is there, I'll bring her back." Luke said, his voice almost pleading. He could feel her anger, her fear for her friend, and knew that Palpatine would use them to force her right into his hands, just like he'd almost done to Luke himself. He couldn't watch her fall, couldn't stop her if she did turn, and didn't want to have to see her suffer as he had.

"Luke, stop. I know what you're thinking. She's angry and upset and scared and Palpatine is gonna play her like a fiddle till she's arking lightning with the best of um. But I'm not gonna do that. I know I haven't made the best show of it so far, but I am a champ at controlling myself. I need to do this. Remember Dagobah? What Yoda told you when you raced off to save Han and Leia? This is that. So no more telling me to stay, I'm not a dog, and I'm not going to listen." Ori stood, feeling her old self slowly suffuse her battered and weary soul. It felt good to be assertive again. "Now are we gonna go out or not." She held a hand out to him, catching his eye with intent. This was the test. If she could do this, she could do anything.

Luke waited a beat, his mind racing to catch up to everything she'd said before she held a hand out to him, the gesture so laden with meaning he almost couldn't move. She was trying to prove something, he knew, but exactly what it was, he still didn't quite understand. Was it that she could conquer her fear, command her emotions and actions beyond what he'd already seen? Whatever it was, he felt a thrill of pride at how relaxed she was as he gripped her hand tight and pulled himself up.

"Going out sounds good. Fresh air to clear the mind." He said, his tone a mixture of joking and mockingly philosophical. Ori felt a smile creep onto her face. It was hard to believe that not even a half hour ago, she was a weeping mess on the floor. She laughed internally at herself, of course now would be when she found herself again. It always seemed to take someone reaching out and slapping her to get her moving after a trauma, it was a problem, but then, it had taken her this far, so maybe it wasn't so bad.

"They just opened a new bar not far from here. I've heard some of the off world officials talking about it. It's supposed to be really nice." Leia said, standing up and brushing herself down. It was a nervous habit Ori had first noticed on the Falcon. Whenever Leia was in a situation where she felt out of place or out of sorts, like she didn't have a firm grip on things, she would smooth down her clothes, or sweep away imaginary specks of dust. Ori flashed her a small smile as Luke's face slowly melted into a relaxed grin.

"Well then I guess we should all get ready." He looked meaningfully at Leia before excusing himself, his shout to Han and Chewie the last either heard of him as the door swung shut.

"I think he was telling you to make me presentable." Ori said, gesturing to her generally disheveled appearance. She'd been through several layers of hell within a twenty four hour period, and she looked it. Dolling up wasn't something she was looking forward to, hardly having the stamina to stand up right after everything she'd experienced, but she'd be damned if she was going to bring the rest of the group down.

"I think I can manage that." Leia said, falling into the role of girl friend easily enough. It made Ori wonder what her childhood had been like. Had she had friends and peers her own age as she grew up? Did she have lavish sleep overs in Organa's large house? It was odd for her to realize that there was still so much about the twins and their lives that she didn't know despite having had a window into their young adulthood.

"I am your canvas, make me beautiful Senator." Ori said, holding her arms dramatically out to her sides, feeling her spirit slowly heal at the laughter she received. She still felt battered and bruised inside, still had all the same sadness and fears that had kept her shut in since she'd arrived here, but she was done letting it rule her. She was going to pull herself up by what few threads of strength she had left and make a life for herself, just like she'd always done when life kicked her in the teeth and left her for dead.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The bar, if you could really call it that, was packed when they arrived. When Leia had mentioned it, Ori had thought of all the bars she'd ever seen on or around military bases, tiny holes in the wall that served cold beer and had good music on an old jukebox, not a multistory neon bright palace of a building that made her think of one of the ritzier hotels in Vegas. But as she walked through the doors, Luke holding tight to her arm, she felt the energy of the place wash over her and couldn't repress the smile that spread across her face. While the name of the place may be misleading, the atmosphere certainly wasn't.

Music blared from speakers mounted high on the walls, the words in a language she would never be able to understand, but the beat so familiar it almost hurt. Aliens and humans, all in varying states of fine dress, sipped cocktails, pulled shots, formed small groups of dancers in all the corners, and generally let themselves unwind after what had to have been a very long and stressful day. She laughed softly as Lando, resplendent in his roguish uniform, came up and attempted to sweep Leia clean out of Han's grip, only to have her shove him playfully at Chewie, who snapped him close under an arm and steered him toward an uncrowded section of the bar.

"Now this I understand." Ori said, watching as Lando waved down the bartender, making a familiar circular hand gesture that, in her world, signaled the buying of a round of shots. Perhaps she could do this after all.

"You have something like this in your world?" Luke asked, turning a slightly shocked expression to his student. He didn't know why, but he'd been imagining her world to be a strange mixture of the peaceful and chaotic. For some reason, he just couldn't see her pounding back liquor and dancing around like a mad woman, but as a grin spread across her face, he began to understand that he'd imagined wrong.

"Luke, some of the clubs on my world would make your head spin. Have you ever heard of a bubble rave?" She asked, sliding over to allow him space as they all sat themselves down in a large booth. She caught eyes with Leia from across Han's chest and winked softly.

"A what?" He asked, turning his full attention to her. He'd been trying for days to get her to open up about her world and her past, perhaps this was his chance to learn more about her.

"A bubble rave. It's a dance party where they play heavy techno music, kind of like what's playing now, and cover the floor in a good few feet of soap bubbles and foam. Then they start up a flashing light show and turn off the main club lights and just let people go crazy. It's fantastic, especially if you're drunk." She said, a large smile plastered on her face as she remembered the times she'd let Suzie drag her to the old warehouse just outside the town where they'd both attended University. It had been some of the best experiences of her life, what little of it she could remember.

"That sounds insane, and very fun. I wonder if they'd let us do that here." He said, sitting up in the booth and looking around for the nearest employee. He would call in every favor he'd ever collected over the war if it meant getting to see Ori dancing through several feet worth of bubbles and foam.

"Let us do what?" Lando asked, setting a tray laden with dark amber shots down on the table, sliding into the far edge of the booth beside Luke while Chewie pressed himself in beside Leia.

"Have a bubble rave. It's a specific kind of party from Ori's world." He said, watching as Lando's eyes left his face and trailed over to Ori, taking in her whole form before returning to her face.

"I'm sure we can make it happen." He said, his best charming grin in place. Ori felt her stomach flip as her face colored up. She'd always liked Lando, drawn to his roguish nature the same as she'd been drawn to Han, but it felt oddly predatory.

"It's really not a big deal guys, this is more than enough for me to have fun." She said, gesturing to the tray of shots. "Now, who's up for a game?" She asked, looking between all the seated faces.

"Can't we just drink?" Han asked, looking between the grinning faces that surrounded him. He was already unhappy with their choice of bar, and all he wanted to do was get pleasantly drunk, go back to their suite, and make up for lost time with his wife, but from the look on her face and the way she was staring Ori down, he knew it was going to be a very long, and complicated night.

"Okay, so Han is a chicken, anyone else wanna back out?" Ori said, looking up to Chewie and down to Lando, seeing twin faces of almost morbid curiosity.

"Hey! I never said I wasn't gonna play." Han said, his face assuming the wounded expression that had always made her laugh. "I'm an expert at drinking games, just ask Chewie." He said, his face morphing from upset to cocky in a split second. Ori looked over to the seated wookie and had to bite back a laugh as he subtly shook his head. This was gonna be fun.

"Okay, so everyone is in, good. The name of the game is never have I ever, and the rules are simple. When its your turn you say "never have I ever" and then sayething you've never done. If someone at the table has done the thing you name, they have to take a shot, and then it moves on to the next person in the line. Got it?" She asked, looking to each face in turn, getting a solid nod before she pulled the tray a little closer. "Excellent, let's get started. Never have I ever fought the Empire." She laughed at the chorus of groans, and one guttural growl, as everyone took hold of a shot, swallowing it down and glaring at her.

"Cheap shot genius." Han said, pausing as he thought over what he would say, an evil grin spreading across his face as he turned to face Luke. "Never have I ever kissed my sister." He said, laughing out loud as Luke pulled a face and reached for a shot, grumbling something under his breath as he threw back the dark liquor.

"You're gonna pay for that one smuggler." He said, dropping the shot glass rim down in front of him. Han just grinned, turning his playful gaze to Leia who was trying very hard to stifle her own laughter.

"Okay, well I'm not gonna be mean." She said, letting the statement hang in the air for a moment, a grin spreading across her face. "Never have I ever been in a men's refresher." She said, all the men grumbling at the perceived cheap shot, Ori reaching behind Han's head to high five the woman who was rapidly becoming a close friend.

Chewie let out a string of growls and trilling yowls that Han translated to "Never have I ever been bald" and everyone shared a good laugh at his rather polite cheap shot, each one downing another small tumbler of liquor. Han muttered something about "fixing that" but couldn't repress his own laughter, Chewie reaching over Leia's head to punch his friend lightly on the shoulder.

"I can't believe no one has done this yet, but never have I ever been to another universe." Lando said, turning a grin to Ori's shocked face. The rest of the group laughed, though it sounded forced and nervous, but Ori simply reached forward and downed a shot with exaggerated slowness.

"I'm gonna get you back for that." She said, turning the shot glass over slowly and setting in in front of her. Lando merely arched an eyebrow and nodded, a grin cemented on his face. The rest of the group let out a collective breath as they saw that Ori genuinely wasn't upset and the turn moved on to Luke.

"Never have I ever been furry." He said, laughing at whatever Chewie said in response. The Wookie down his shot quickly, his eyes trained on Luke the whole time while the rest of the group enjoyed the show, and then it passed to Ori.

"Never have I ever made a deal with the Empire." She said, looking side long at Lando who let out a surprised squawk of laughter and downed a shot. "I told you." She said, watching as his face relaxed and he nodded, shrugging good naturedly and setting the glass in front of him.

"That you did, and fair play to you." He said, gesturing for Han to take his turn, and so it continued, each turn getting meaner and meaner until each comment was going for the throat. It wasn't until Chewie pointed out the tray was empty that any of them realized how long they'd been playing.

"Oh damn." Ori said, looking at the small pyramid of shot glasses piled in front of her. "You people are evil." She said, comparing her pile to the rest of the people at the table. "How did I lose? I'm from a different universe." She looked between Luke and Han, the second and third losers, and then to Leia, who sat with just three shot glasses in front of her.

"Don't feel bad, we never win when she plays." Luke said, slouching back against the cushion of the booth and laughing softly. "She cheats." He whispered, loud enough for everyone at the table to hear, winking at her and grinning as his sister let out an indignant squeak.

"I do not." She said, leaning forward to catch his eye. "I just know you all better than you think." Leia said, relaxing into Han's side as his arm rested around her shoulders. "You're just a sore loser." She said, sticking her tongue out at him, earning a loud laugh from Ori.

"You two are so cute, it's disgusting." She said, rolling her eyes and miming a gag, earning her own loud laughter from Lando. "I don't suppose cigarettes are a thing in this universe." She said, sighing and frowning down at the mountain of shot glasses. She'd kicked the habit of smoking daily years ago, but she always got the craving when she drank, it was one of the reasons she kept her alcohol intake so low.

"What's a cigarette?" Luke asked, looking down at her, finding it difficult to resist pulling her against him the way Han had done with Leia.

"Um...well...they're like...damn." Ori huffed out a breath, her drink fogged mind struggling to come up with a good way to explain them to someone who'd never seen one before. "Oh, I know!" She grabbed his hand and placed the palm flat on her forehead, nearly stabbing his little finger into her eye before he got the gist of what she was suggesting.

He pushed her hand gently away from his wrist, repositioning his fingers against her scalp, earning a pleased purr from her as her thick tresses parted to make room. He closed his eyes finding their Force connection with ease and following the glowing strands of her thoughts to the image of a small paper tube, filled with dried leaves that were meant to be lit and smoked.

"That can't be good for you." He commented, taking the opportunity to have a look around her mind. It was odd to see it in such a state of calm, though the disarray was still present, it seemed to be sedated, each thought moving sluggishly through her brain as the alcohol seemed to gum up the works.

"It's really not." She said, leaning her head further into his hand, enjoying the feel of his fingers in her curls. She'd always loved it when people played with her hair. "But it's an addictive habit that I was stupid enough to fall into when I was younger, and now every time I drink, I crave them." She was so distracted by how good it felt to have him touching her, that she didn't realize he was still in her mind. She let thoughts of what she'd really like to be doing with him at this moment float through her mind, missing the subtle sense of shock that echoed down their link from his end.

He felt a grin cross his face, his mask of calm remaining perfectly in place as he let himself peruse the thoughts she was serving up for him. He knew it was wrong, knew that had he been sober, he never would've done it, but he wasn't, and he couldn't bring himself to care as he watched her body writhe under him. It was a very good show, but he'd overstayed his welcome already.

He pulled his hand away from her temple, chuckling softly as her body leaned forward to follow it, pushing her slowly back until she was leaning against the cushion of the booth. She looked so different now than the panicked mess she'd been in that room. It made him feel indescribably happy to see her smiling and relaxed, genuinely enjoying herself for the first time since she'd gotten to his world.

"Well then I am pleased to say that I have no idea what they are or if they exist here, and I won't be helping you find out." He said, grinning at her indignant squawk, Han's hand coming to cover her mouth as she let out a string of swear words that would've made Chewie blush.

"I think she's had enough." Han said, pushing her back toward Luke who was kind enough to catch her before she tilted over into the table. She glared over her shoulder at him, though there was no real fire in it, and mumbled something he couldn't quite make out. "Go to bed." He said, enunciating each word slowly. She just rolled her eyes and motioned for Luke and Lando to move so she could get out of the booth.

"I'm going back to the suite, not because he told me to." She said, gesturing toward Han, leaning heavily on the table as her world began to spin. She knew she was in for a hell of a hangover the next morning, but it was absolutely worth it for have seen Han gape like a fish when Lando dropped the Carbonite card.

"Can you make it back alone?" Leia asked, genuine concern on her face. She knew how hard it was to find your way around this base stone cold sober. Ori paused for a moment, her mind chugging slowly to life as she tried to remember the path they'd taken to get there, only to have her answer drowned out by a loud growl from Chewie. He rose, wrapping one massive hand, paw, thing, around her arm, guiding her slowly to the door as Leia called a loud "thank you" after him.

"You're awesome." Ori said, leaning against his furry side, earning a warm sounding hoot, his hand moving from her arm to wrap around her shoulder, holding her close. It served a dual purpose, her scientific mind said stumbling to life. She was easier to steer this way, and he could keep her from falling into anything on their way back. She smiled up at him. "You were always one of my favorite characters ya know. You're just so...cool, and the fact that you can rip an arm clean off doesn't hurt either." She mumbled, smiling at the faint laughter that sounded above her.

The rest of the trip back passed in a haze of giggling mumblings and sluggish half thoughts that would've been no doubt hilarious to anyone sober that over heard them. Lucky for her, the base seemed to be deserted outside the bustling downtown area, leaving her alone with her fuzzy protector until he pushed her gently onto her bed, removing her shoes and tossing the heavy blanket over her before retreating into the main room to wait for the others.

Ori couldn't help the giggle fit that over came her as she allowed herself to analyze the situation from an outside perspective. She'd just spent the last few hours getting ridiculously drunk with Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Lando Calrisian, and Han Solo. The mighty Chewbacca had walked her back from said drinking binge and just taken off her shoes and tucked her into bed. Her last thought as sleep claimed her was of how perfect it would've been if Suzie had been there.

Light flashed momentarily outside, illuminating the room around the now sleeping Ori, a single figure was standing at the foot of her bed, a sadistic smile painted across their face.


	9. Venturing Forth

Ori sighed as a mixture of exhaustion and apprehension washed over her. The past few days had been far from peaceful and she was finding it hard to push through it all. The night at the bar had been fun, a much needed reminder that she was still alive, still herself, despite all that had happened, but it had come with a heavy price. Her dreams that night had been the worst yet, images of Suzie's smiling face dancing through her mind, juxtaposed with visions of bloody death and torture, and with the alcohol in her system, she hadn't been able to wake up until Luke had roused her the following morning. 

That had set the tone for the rest of the week. Her days were spent training with Luke, a slow and arduous task despite her renued determination to push past her dark emotions and regain her old self, and her nights were spent tossing and turning as Palpatine's face grew closer and closer, taunting her with visions of her friend in pain, or herself turning, killing, reveling in the bloodshed and terror she would cause. Most nights she ended up in Luke's bed, finding his calming presence to be the only thing that would keep the visions at bay.

Now she sat in her room, though it was beginning to feel more like a prison, for the final time. Tomorrow would mark the beginning of her very own adventure through a galaxy far far away. She should've been excited about it, happy at the prospect of getting out into the stars, of getting to see her friend again, but all she could feel was cold fear. She'd been full of confidence and surety when she'd told Luke she was going with him, ignorant to just how powerful Palpatine was, but now, after a solid week of nightly torture by that same man, she knew how wrong she'd been.

She drew in a deep breath, laying back on top of the covers of the bed, eyes closed, body relaxed, just like Luke had taught her. She couldn't start out like this. She wouldn't give in to the fear. This was no different than any other thing she'd done in her life. When she set foot in her high school after years worth of home schooling, she'd been terrified. She could very well have been cornered and beaten half to death by the girls she'd nearly gotten expelled, but she'd walked through those doors with her head held high, and she'd been set on the path that led her into her future.

When she'd started her research she could've been laughed out of her entire field, blacklisted by any and every reputable lab that had the equipment to test her theory, but she hadn't been. She'd walked into each and every interview with her shoulders squared, her voice strong, and an unshakable faith in herself that had won her more awards and respect than she'd ever dreamed she would attain. Now she had to do it again.

Let the wrinkly old ass face try and turn her. She would push him back every time. It wouldn't be easy, she may die, but it would be worth it to make a change in this universe. She'd always dreamed of changing the world, of shedding light on the darkest and most obscure mysteries of their universe, and she'd done that. Now she had to get into that damn pyramid, rescue her friend, and punch that old bastard right in the face for good measure, and she was going to do that too.

She smiled as she felt the fear beginning to bleed from her. It was hard to remember all she'd done in her life when she was so removed from it, so easy to revert back to that scared little eleven year old that felt so out of place in a world that didn't quite understand her, but she wasn't little anymore, she was grown, she was strong, and she just had to remember it.

A knock on her door drew her out of her mind, the remnants of her force connection tingling down her spine as she got up and opened the door, smiling from ear to ear as Leia walked in, laden down with packages and bags.

“The tailor finally finished your order.” She said, dumping everything down onto the bed. Ori couldn't speak for a moment, the excitement of finally having some things to call her own overwhelming her. She turned and grabbed her friend up into a tight hug, feeling a single tear streak down her face.

“Thank you, you have no idea what this means to me.” She said, smiling at Leia's musical laugh. She'd already been through this once when the order was placed, Luke and Leia both insisting that she have at least a few sets of clothes to take with her, despite the fact that Leia's clothing had been working out more than enough for her. It had been a shock to her, a pleasant one for a change, that she hadn't thought of it herself.

“Yeah, you've said, a lot. Now shut up and open stuff, I wanna see what you got.” Leia said, gesturing excitedly to the packages. Ori barked a laugh and turned to the bed, tearing quickly through the strange packaging until each and every item she'd ordered was laid out for them both to look at. 

“Wow, that guy did a great job.” She said, holding up a pair of pants that were the closest thing to jeans that she could find. The fabric felt almost like denim, a little more stretchy and almost leather like but close enough to make her feel a little more at home here. The rest of the clothing was along the same vein, fitted pants, long sleeved shirts along the lines of what she'd seen on Han and Luke, a couple of sturdy leather jackets with plenty of pockets and probably more underclothes than were strictly necessary.

She couldn't repress a giggle as her eyes fell on the lacy bits of frippery that Leia had insisted she order. She'd never been one to indulge in things like lingerie, lacy under things had just never seemed necessary to her, but when she'd seen the delicate stitching and rich black hue of the matching set, she found herself unable to resist the prodding of her friend. She'd skipped over the unspoken message her friend was giving her, that she should wear the set for a certain Jedi they both knew, but the thought had stuck in her mind.

“I told you he was good. Now you're sure you want me to hang onto this stuff for you?” Leia asked, gesturing toward the more dressy pieces she'd ordered. Again, it had been Leia's idea to get them, she was some what of a public figure now, being so close to the trio that had been instrumental in bringing down the Empire, not to mention being from a universe that wasn't their own, and though she detested parties with her entire being, she would be expected to attend one every now and again.

“Yeah, I'm not gonna have much use for a formal dress on this particular mission, at least I don't think I will. It would be odd if I did.” She laughed softly, her hands sorting automatically through the various articles of clothing until she had separated out the practical from the formal. As per her own tradition, she'd gotten far more practical than formal, which presented a small problem as the ship they were taking was quite small and did not have room for a large wardrobe. 

Leia shared her look of good natured annoyance and began to help her sort through the practical pile, setting aside things she knew she wouldn't need until she had a manageable collection. She pulled a small suitcase from beneath the bed and started helping her fold and store the clothes, throwing a few other necessities they'd discussed under the layers of clothing. 

“You ready?” Luke asked, popping his head around the frame of the door. He'd seen Leia wobble her way to Ori's room and had been giving them their space, knowing how important it was to both of them to allowed to say their goodbyes, but the day was already half over, and they needed to be on their way before nightfall.

“Just about.” Ori said, closing the case with a definitive snap. She turned to Leia and pulled her into one final hug, pushing all the love and gratitude she felt for the woman toward her. Leia's arms tightened around her as the feelings flowed into her. “I'll see you, hopefully soon.” Ori said, her voice soft.

“May the force be with you.” Leia said, stepping back and turning to hug her brother as well. Ori carried her case out into the main room and shot a confident smile at Han as he caught her eye from his spot on the couch.

“So I'm finally getting rid of you huh?” He asked, a playful grin crossing his face. They'd settled into an easy rhythm of sarcasm and teasing over the past week and Ori was happy to say she now considered him a friend.

“Not forever, I'll be back and you're gonna teach me everything there is to know about that ship of yours.” She said, pointing a finger authoritatively toward him, a mimic of his own pointing habit.

“The hell I am. No one will ever know the Falcon like I do. But you can try.” He said, standing up and walking over to her, pulling her into a one armed hug. “Take care genius, Chewie's taken a liking to you.” He slapped her back softly, pushing her forward into the arms of said Wookie who picked her up clean off the floor. She laughed softly, ruffling the fur on top of his head as she muttered a quiet goodbye, her feet contacting the floor just as Luke and Leia exited her room.

“Ready to go Master Luke?” She asked, grinning as he pulled a face. She'd taken to teasing him, calling him Master and Teacher just to make him blush and cringe. It felt good, but she couldn't deny the tension that would spring up between them.

“I told you not to call me that.” He said, glaring playfully at her as he gestured toward the door. “I'm not your master and you know it.” He cringed at the bark of laughter that filled the room as they left, the door closing on Han saying something that earned him a smack from his young wife.

“So, what's the plan?” Ori asked, readjusting her grip on her case as they walked quickly through the halls and toward the hangar.

“We head to where you came through. If Suzie is alive, she would've come through the same place right?” He asked, looking over at her. He'd spent the last few days trying to wrap his head around exactly how their experiment had worked but it was slow going. 

“Theoretically, yeah I suppose she would've, but then again, I materialized out of nowhere, so she could have as well. Are there any planets near there?” She asked, her mind already working through the complex theorems and equations that she hoped would lead her to some solid answers.

“I can check the nav charts once we get to the ship. If there are, we'll start our search there and hope something comes up.” He tried to sound light hearted and hopeful, but the odds of them finding anything other than disappointment were slim to none and they both knew it.

“Hope is all anyone ever has.” Ori said, more to herself than to him. “My mother used to say that all the time. Right up to the end she never gave up hoping she would get better.” She drew in a calming breath, remembering her mother's face when she'd been healthy. She'd always smile, no matter what was happening, no matter how scary things got, she just smile and say it was going to be alright. 

“Wise woman your mother.” Luke said, waving to the hangar crew as they walked by. Their ship was small, but fast, something akin to what Anakin had used during the Clone Wars, though Luke didn't know it, and Ori hoped the same luck that had always been with the elder Skywalker would be with them now.

“Wish I had her here now.” Ori said, moving quickly back to the only set of quarters the ship had. It was generous to call them quarters really, it was more just two bunks and a refresher at the back of the ship, but it would do, she didn't imagine she'd be getting much sleep anyway.

“Me too.” Luke said, tossing his own case onto the far bunk. He'd noticed that she seemed to like being near the door, being close to the only route of escape probably made her feel more secure. “Now, let's go check the navi computer and see about those planets.” He brushed past her as he turned, their hands grazing lightly and sending a single flash of an image through his mind. He grinned as he moved through the single corridor toward the cock pit. So she liked lace.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Okay, so this controls the pitch and this controls rotation.” Ori said, her hands resting gently on the controls in front of her. She'd spent that past couple of days trying to fill up as much of her time as possible, staving off sleep until she was about ready to drop. Having Luke teach her to fly seemed like as good a time waster as any.

“Yup, and this is the ignition and this one jumps us to hyperspace. I know you already know this Ori, are we gonna talk about why I'm going over it again?” He asked, leaning back in the copilot's seat, his expression a mixture of concern and irritation.

“No we're not.” She said, slowly banking the ship side to side, getting a feel for the controls. She knew she should talk about her dreams, should open up to him about everything she'd been seeing, but she couldn't. To talk about it would make it real and to make it real would make it a threat, and she didn't know if she was gonna be able to deal with that threat.

“You know I can tell when you're upset right? I can see it.” Luke said, reaching over and taking her hands from the controls, pressing a few buttons to switch the ship to autopilot. He was done beating around the bush with her. He'd spent the last week tiptoeing around the issue and trying to make sure he didn't push her before she was ready, but he was done waiting. If they were going to face Palpatine, they were gonna do it as a team, no secrets.

“Luke, please, I can't.” She said, trying to pull her hand away, only to have his grip tighten. She looked down to see that he'd used his right hand, the mechanical one, effectively trapping her in his grip. “That's cheating. I don't have a robot hand.” She said, trying to muster the energy to glare.

“I don't care, you're going to talk to me.” His eyes were hard, his expression set with determination and little else. She knew she couldn't get out of it any longer, and if she was being honest with herself, she knew she shouldn't even be trying to. What would she do if she went up again the Emperor with all of the doubt and fear? He would twist her so fast her head would spin and then where would they be.

“Fine...fine fine, okay.” She dropped her eyes as she tried to compose her thoughts. There was a lot of information, but it all boiled down to the same thing. The thing that was causing her fear was the thing that needed to be spoken out loud, the details didn't matter. “I'm afraid.” She drew a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she formulated exactly what she wanted to say. “I've been having these dreams, visions, some created by my, some not, but they all circle around to the same thing. I fail, I turn, it goes bad, then I die. I know what it really is, I know where the images are coming from, but I can't stop it. What if, when the time comes, I can't stop him?” She looked up at Luke, expecting to see some kind of self righteous pride, but it wasn't there, just like every other time she'd allowed herself to be vulnerable with him, all there was was simple honest concern.

“I thought the same thing once. I played it off a bit better than you've been doing, but I was trapped in a turbo lift with my father at the time, so I didn't really have a choice.” He smiled as she let out a breathy laugh, her shoulders relaxing by just a fraction. “Oria, I know you know how that situation ended, but what you don't know is how close I came to falling. There was a moment, when I was in the grips of my anger, when I wanted to turn. The idea of the power that Palpatine offered, the abilities I knew he could teach me, looked good. But I did, because I had something more important to fight for. When the time comes, remember that.” He said, reaching forward and clasping her hands tightly in his own. “And know that I'll be with you every step of the way. You won't be alone, and you won't have to face him alone.” He smiled as he felt the last of her tension leave her. If he could do it, when he was alone and the whole deck was stacked against him, then so could she.

“Thanks.” She smiled, letting her hands slip from his grasp as she leaned back in her chair. “You are really good at giving speeches.” She grinned as the blush rose in his cheeks. No matter how many times it happened, she never got tired of embarrassing him. “Is that a jedi thing? Am I gonna learn how to do that? Or do you just adlib it?” She watched as his eyes turned playful. She was turning the discussion away from a topic that made her intensely uncomfortable, and he was letting her.

“It's a heavily guarded ability, only taught to those of highest power among the Jedi. I don't know if you'll ever be ready.” He said, slipping into the aloof nature he always used when mocking her idea of what a Jedi should be.

“I will strive to be worthy my master.” She said, bowing her head solemnly toward her chest. It seemed to be the way most of their conversations went. They would start out heavy, usually about her still chaotic emotional state, and then after a little bit of word vomit and advice, they would descend into sarcastic teasing and mockery. It was a nice rhythm, one that she found comforting as it reminded her so much of the group of friends she'd lost. But it felt strange now, like there was some unspoken message passing between them in the tiny space. Maybe it was because they were alone, with nothing but the vacuum of space and the distant stars to see them, but it felt almost too intimate now, the air slowly becoming charged with silent meaning.

“We will have to intensify your training if you mean to learn this most advanced of skills.” He said, his grin turning slightly heavy around the edges. Was he feeling it too? She'd been trying, and utterly failing, to contain the feelings that she could feel growing for him. She knew it was just a silly crush, knew that her inner fangirl was almost entirely responsible for how aware she still was of every move he made, but that didn't seem to matter. Even now, when they were actively searching for a man who either wanted to turn her to the Dark Side or kill her, she couldn't take her eyes away from his lips.

“And what training could prepare me for so great a power? Public speaking engagement? Cause I gotta be honest with you, I am terrible in front of a crowd.” She felt heat flush through her at the soft laugh. It sounded different, deeper and softer than she was used to, drawing her in as his eyes slid closed. What was he thinking? She wished that she could see into his mind the way he could see into hers, but then, where would be the fun?

“You must learn how to hone your allure, to make others want to listen. But that is all I can tell you. You'll learn more when you're ready.” His eyes were sharp with meaning, the deep blue of his irises slowly fading as his pupils expanded. Was it because of the low light, or something else?

“My allure? I think I'm already pretty alluring.” She said, a lazy smirk crossing her face. She didn't know where this was headed, what exactly they were actually saying to each other, but she liked the feeling it was giving her. Her skin felt warm, her heart kicking up a pace or two as she struggled to maintain eye contact. It was so hard with those lips just a little further down. She wondered if they were as soft as they looked, how they would feel pressed against her own, trailing down her neck, between her breasts.

“Oh believe me, you're well on your way.” He said, his voice deep and heavy with double meaning. It pulled her from her thoughts and back to the moment, where he was looking at her less like a person and more like something he desperately wanted to eat. Her heart flipped and fluttered in her chest as the tension between them became so thick it was almost solid.

A sharp dinging alarm broke through the atmosphere like a whip crack, pulling both their attention around to the flashing light on the panel. It was the comms system, alerting them to an incoming transmission. Luke's fingers flew quickly over the panel, routing the message to the screen on his side of the cockpit, he didn't want to chance anyone seeing Ori before they were ready.

“You have entered into Wayland airspace, state the nature of your journey.” The voice sounded strange. It had a strange organic quality to it that made her think of crystal wind chimes.

“My name is Luke Skywalker, I'm searching for a friend of mine. I think she may have landed near here.” Luke hated dealing with any of the indigenous life on Wayland. They'd been through hell ever since the Old Republic had discovered their world and the Empire hadn't made things any better. Now he'd heard tell of a rogue Jedi, gone mad with power, ruling the three disparate races with an iron fist. He seriously doubted that Suzie had ever been here, n way could Palpatine get his hands on her if she hhad found her way down there.

“There have been no craft or individuals of non terrestrial origin found on Wayland within the past solar year. You may leave a description of the person in question and we will conduct a search. If they are found you will be notified. Relay the description and maintain your orbit.” The comms channel went dead, another light letting them both know that a transfer channel had been opened instead. Luke was quick to submit the description of Suzie that they'd prepared and settled back in his seat.

“And now we wait.” He sighed, looking over at her. He could feel her confusion, the way her thoughts swirled around in her mind, trying to combine into something that would satisfy the question she had, but nothing seemed to be working. “You want to know why we don't just go down to the surface and look for ourselves right?” He asked, laughing softly as her eyes snapped into focus and trained themselves on him. She was adorable when she was trying to figure something out.

“Well I wasn't gonna say anything, you're the local after all, but yeah, it's not making much sense to me at the moment.” She said, feeling herself color up. She felt like she was missing something, but couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was. The Empire was gone, as far as she knew, there were still splinter cells that were trying in vain to reclaim ground, but the bulk of the fighting force had either gone down with the second Death Star or had surrendered. So why didn't they just land and look for Suzie themselves?

“That planet has been through more invasions and exchanges of power in the last thousand years than any other planet in the galaxy. There were two native species, one made of crystal, the other made of rock, and they coexisted relatively well until the Old Republic discovered the place and sent out some settlers. From there it's been nothing but squabbling and in fighting. The Palpatine found it and made it a secret cache of weapons, using it as a research base under the power of a dark side user known only as The Guardian. He was in turn over thrown by a power mad rogue Jedi named Joruus C'baoth who now rules over all three species. He's brought a sort of forced peace to the planet, but maintains it by keeping strict rule of law. He doesn't like visitors, least of all Force users like us. I had to go down there not long ago to clear out the old weapons left by the Empire after the fall of the Death Star and he just about took my head off.” He watched as her expression shifted from startled to saddened, her heart going out to the people of the planet.

“Wow, that sucks! Can't anyone do anything? I mean, he's set himself up as a dictator, isn't that something you guys are supposed to stop?” She knew she was probably showing her ignorance, but she couldn't help it. She'd been raised in a free, al be it imperfect, democracy, and the thought of living in anything but that system made her brain hurt. 

“We've offered our help, but the people don't want it. They don't like the strict policies C'baoth has enacted, but they're willing to suffer through them if it means an end to the fighting. If we were to go down there and dismantle what he's set up, we'd be no better than him. So for now, or maybe forever, we just maintain a position of open assistance should it be requested and do what we can to limit his insanity. I take it your world doesn't have this particular problem?” He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. He'd been spending a good deal of their time together getting to know her better, what she liked, what she disliked, how she'd gotten to the position she was in now, but her world was still a mystery to him.

“Well, in some places. My world isn't under one unified government like the worlds here. We have hundreds of different countries all with their own governments and laws. A lot of people, myself included, hope that we're going to get to a world government one day, something that would unify the whole planet under one flag and one common set of rules, but it's hard to believe it'll ever really happen. My country, the United States of America, USA for short, is a democratic republic.” She felt weird having to explain this to someone, like it should just be common knowledge, but then, the idea of a whole galaxy that was ruled by one governing body was the height of strange.

“Hundred of different cultures? That must get confusing.” He said, trying to imagine what life on Tatooine would've been like if the Hutts hadn't controlled everything. No one liked the Hutts, they were a bunch of brutish gangsters that only seemed to care about themselves and their own profits, but when it came down to it, they kept things running.

“Oh yeah, especially once you take all the fascist dictators into account. My country is one of many democracies in my world, but there are just as many over blown jackass overlords that like to think they know better. Those of us that have the power try to intervene when we can, sending military forces to try and liberate the people, but more often than not it just creates a power vacuum that ends up with yet another jackass in charge a few decades later.” She sighed as she thought of all the countries she'd studied during her time in college, all the people she knew were still suffering under the oppression of a man who didn't care about them as much as he cared about his own ego.

“I can see how this would be hard for you to understand. But even you said that when you try and step in, liberate instead of allow the people to come to it on their own, all you do is create a vacuum, and that never leads anywhere good.” Luke could feel her mood beginning to turn, the playful tension from before slowly evaporating in the face of the reality of the universe she'd fallen into. He knew what she hoped this galaxy would be, could see the grand adventures she'd always wanted to have, and it upset him to see her becoming so disenfranchised with it all. 

“Everything here is hard for me to understand. Just when I think I've got a leg up on it, something new comes along and pulls the rug out from under me. I mean, I can get past the weird music, the alien languages, the food, hell even the clothes, that's all just part of this universe, but something like this? I just can't wrap my head around it.” She sighed, looking over at him, feeling like a heel for breaking the mood with her sudden sense of ennui, but she couldn't help but feel like someone had just blown a hole through her childhood.

“Ori, give it time. No place is perfect, no matter how good it may look in a film. Often times reality is far more disappointing than what you imagine, but it's also far better. I know this isn't what you had in mind when you imagined our journey together, but if you give it a little time I'm sure we'll get around to the space battles and saber fights you know and love.” He shot her playful grin, watching her color up as he got to the root of her disappointment.

“Sorry, I know it's childish, but it all seemed so exciting in the movies ya know? I mean, cruising through the galaxy in the Falcon, running around seedy cantinas and taking out giant slug mob bosses, what's not to love? But I guess they cut out all the bits where you hurry up and wait.” She rubbed at her neck as her blush deepened. She knew she was being silly. All those action scenes seemed really fun when she was watching them from the safety of her couch, but living them had to have been terrifying.

“Like I said, fantasy is more fun, reality is still better. Don't worry, you'll get there. Now, they're gonna be a while, how about we get a little training in while we wait?” He stood from his chair, holding a hand out to her, that strange grin back in place. Her insides began to twist as she took his hand, that heat returning to her belly as he led her down the corridor to the bunk room. What was he planning?


	10. Getting Closer

The walk to the end of the corridor seemed to take forever, each second lasting an eternity as her anticipation continued to grow, setting each nerve on high alert. She'd never been this nervous around anyone. She didn't know what was about to happen, but she could feel something radiating between them, down the link Luke always talked about that was giving her a good idea of where it might end up.

Luke stopped when they reached the bunk room, shedding the black coat he always seemed to be wearing and tossing it onto his bunk. She felt her heart kick up a pace or two as she watched the toned muscles of his shoulders move under his skin and it dawned on her that she'd never seen him without that coat on before. Even that night on the ship when he'd come to check on them, he'd been in full dress. Now she was sure something was going to happen.

“We've been sitting down too long, my muscles are all stiff. Take your coat off and we'll do some stretching, see if we can't limber up a bit.” He turned a smile toward her, the same smile she'd seen so many times before, but now it seemed different, laden down with meaning and heavy with promise. She tried, and failed, to repress a grin as she set about stripping down to just her under shirt. She took her time with it, ostensibly so as not to wrinkle or damage her new clothing, but they both knew she was just giving as good as she got, loving the feeling of his eyes on her as more and more skin became visible.

“I didn't think Jedi did much stretching, but then, I guess you have to what with all the jumping and fighting. Wouldn't do to get a cramp in the middle of a fight.” She said, smirking as he rolled his eyes.

“You joke now...” He left his statement hanging between them, letting her decide if it was meant as a threat or a promise. She drew a calming breath as her mind took it as both and her heart sped up just a little more. This man had no idea the power he had over her, or at least, she hoped he didn't. “I'm gonna walk you through some of the simpler movements, we can move on to the more advanced stuff once you're used to it.” She blushed as that deep tone returned to his voice. She didn't know why, but it shot straight to her core every time she heard it.

“I am yours to direct, Master.” She said, biting the corner of her bottom lip to keep from laughing. It was a subconscious reaction she'd noticed back when she was coming into her adulthood. Whenever she was in an intimate situation that made her feel flustered or out of sorts, she would giggle. It had ruined many a good night for her and she would be damned if she was gonna let it screw this one up.

Luke's eyes strayed to her lip as it caught between her teeth, the plump red flesh a stark contrast the the white enamel, and it took all his self control not to simply drop the charade and take her right where she stood. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't do this until she was ready, until she was no longer his student, but he couldn't stand it any more.

Their journey so far had been a true test of his inner strength, seeing her body stretched out on the bunk beside him, clothed in little more than a white shift, her pale legs kicked out from under the blanket, practically glowing under the soft light that filtered in from the corridor outside, and then there were the dreams. Nearly every night for the past week, he'd been woken up by the sounds she would make. It always started the same way, a soft breathy whisper of a moan that would taper off into a whimper that set his body on fire. He wanted so desperately to look into her mind, to see what was causing such delightful noises, and he'd done a very good job of keeping to himself, until last night.

He'd been laying in the dark, using every shred of self control he had to keep from finishing himself to her gasping moans when she'd let out a truly wanton shout, his name falling from her lips like a prayer. He hadn't meant to do it, really he hadn't, but before he could even think to stop himself, he was in her mind, seeing himself holding her down by the wrists, driving into her with bruising force as she arched and bowed beneath him, her breasts bouncing in time with each thrust. And now, he was here, with her, alone in the depths of space, with nothing but time and intent.

“I have to ask, is it alright if I touch you?” He asked, stepping up beside her. He laughed as she rolled her eyes. He knew it was a little silly to ask after all the times she'd crawled into his bed or he'd comforted her after a particularly terrible vision, but he had to be sure that she wanted this as much as he did.

“That is an incredibly stupid question, but if it makes you feel better, yes, it's alright if you touch me.” She said it so casually, an off hand comment that betrayed none of the spine tingling excitement she felt. She knew she shouldn't assume it meant what she hoped it meant, that he could simply be making sure it was alright to physically guide her into the proper stretch position, but it just sounded so delightfully promising.

“Okay, the first stretch is pretty easy, just lean forward at the waist until your hands touch the floor. I'll be here to spot you if you lose your balance.” His hand came to rest lightly on the small of her back as he spoke, warmth and tingling sensation radiating out from it in slow circles as she allowed her top half to fold down toward the floor.

As her palms fell flat against the cool metal Luke began to push her forward, elongating the tendons in the back of her legs until it almost hurt. He had to draw a calming breath as his eyes danced down over her body, she looked so good, and was impressively flexible to boot. He wondered just how flexible she was as he let his body bend down into the same stretch.

He straightened first, wanting to be able to help her if getting up was a little harder than going down had been. He moved behind her, his hands hooking softly around her hips as he pulled her back toward him, drawing her slowly upward until she stood barely an inch from him, her hair wafting into his face, dancing her scent around them both until it was all he could smell.

“Very good, you're further along than I thought. Let's try something a little harder now.” He knew he should move, that speaking so softly, with her so close, was pushing the limits even for him, but he just couldn't help himself. With his hands still on her hips, he stepped back. “Keep your feet planted but follow me.” He barely had the breath to whisper the instructions as he pulled her body backward, bowing her back until she was in an almost perfect arch

Her breasts were in the perfect position, pressed forward and together by the bend of her body and he felt himself beginning to stiffen. She truly was beautiful. He took a moment to curse his sister as he took in the way her pants seemed to cling to her skin, the undershirt hugging every curve as he helped her to twist and move through the back bend. It almost ended him to watch her curl her body back upright.

“Ya know, I don't think you can do that one by yourself.” She said, turning to face him, a challenge clear on her face. He swallowed down the growl that began to rise in his chest. It wouldn't do to give the game away too soon, he wanted this to last. Instead he simply smirked and bent smoothly backward until his hands touched the floor, his body in a near perfect arch. He used his hands to guide himself from side to side, loving the pure wanton desire he could feel radiating toward him through their link. She wanted him just as badly as he wanted her, but he couldn't give in just yet. “Okay,” her voice was breathy and light, “I stand corrected.” She pulled at the low cut collar of her undershirt, feeling her whole body beginning to flush with how badly she needed him.

“Now this next one really does take two people, I'll do you first then you can do me.” He said, his grin positively wolfish as he watched her pupils nearly swallow the vibrant green he'd come to know so well. How much longer could they last like this, he wondered. How long before one of them broke and acted on the draw they felt toward each other. He reached onto his bunk and grabbed his blanket, spreading it out on the ground beside them. “Go ahead and lay down.” He gestured to the blanket, his posture relaxed, a lazy smile on his face.

She wanted to respond, wanted to tell him just how much he was effecting her, but all she could do was nod and move, laying down on her back on the soft cover. She breathed in deep, letting it out slowly, trying to ignore the messages leaping from one nerve to the other. She nearly jumped out of her skin as Luke began to remove her boots and socks, tossing them over under her bunk before taking up position by her feet. 

“Alright, now spread your legs just a bit, I need to get in between them.” He had to fight to keep his face passive, watching the way her breath hitched in her chest at his words sending liquid fire through his veins. He'd never had a woman be so responsive with so little real contact, it was intoxicating.

“Ya know, you really have to work on your phrasing, a girl could get the wrong idea about this whole stretching business.” Ori said, shooting a playful grin down her body at him, her heart skipping a beat or two as she saw the hunger directed back at her. She kept his eyes locked to her as she slowly started to open her legs, letting him guide them until he rested between her calves.

She expected some kind of quippy reply, some sarcastic one off that would relieve the tension that was about to suffocate her common sense, but instead all she got were fingers tracing slowly up her leg, hooking under her knee and drawing it up onto his shoulder. She pulled in a shaky breath as he leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of her hips, pressing her leg toward her torso until it almost met her chest. Gods he looked positively primal in that moment, the blue of his eyes nearly completely dominated by dark pupils. 

Luke could hardly restrain himself. She was so close, her breasts straining against her shirt with each breath. It took everything in him to keep still, letting the tension build and hang in the air between them as he watched her eyes slide closed. He took the opportunity to let his gaze pass over her, focusing on the way a little more of her chest escaped the confines of her shirt with each breath. He was gonna have to buy Leia something really special for their birthday this year.

He leaned back onto his knees, letting her leg relax out of the stretch, guiding it gently back to the floor, allowing his fingers a moment to play across the fabric of the pants she wore before moving to the other leg. He swallowed down a groan as she let a tiny gasp slip out between those perfect lips. Almost there, he thought, watching the growing mound of soft flesh heave. He wanted to take her right there on the floor, pull her flush against him so she could feel exactly what she'd done to him, but he'd learned that finding the right moment can make it feel a thousand times better.

She drew in a breath as he leaned away from her, relaxing her leg out of the stretch and laying it off to the side. Her skin jumped and tingled as his fingers played over her fabric covered calf, the heat spreading up to pool at her core. She wanted him so badly now she could hardly think straight. What was he waiting for? Every nerve in her body was drawn so tight she thought she might fly apart, and still he did nothing. She would give him a few more minutes, and then if he still didn't act, she was going to take matters into her own hands.

“Okay, go ahead and stand up, there's just one more stretch I wanna show you.” He said, rising slowly to his feet, holding a hand out to help her up as well. But she didn't take it. At first he thought he'd upset her, remembering how grasping his hand had made her tense up, but then she began to move, her body sliding sinuously from one position to another until she was standing in front of him. She stretched her body upward, her hands reaching toward the ceiling and he found his eyes drawn once again to those perfect breasts, now nearly free from the confines of the black fabric that encased them.

“Is this one a two person activity as well?” She asked, her voice dropping down into a tone he'd never heard before. It was thick and low, almost purring from her chest as her darkened eyes caught his own. Just a few moments more and she would be ready, he just had to hold out through this last stretch and then he would have her.

“It can be.” He said, stepping up to her and placing his hands on her shoulders. “It's certainly more effective with two people.” He grinned as she gasped, her eyes going wide as he pressed slowly downward. Her feet, now bare and resting on the blanket, began to slide slowly apart, her body sinking into a split. She got over her shock quickly enough, her own grin spreading slowly across her face as she let her hands drag slowly down his chest. If he was going to tease her like this, she was going to return the favor.

Luke's eyes slid closed as her fingers pressed into the muscles of his chest, drawing lines of tingling sensation as she slid down. He had to swallow down a moan as her hands came to rest on his hips, gripping him tightly as she held the position he'd put her in. This woman would be the end of him, he just knew it, but if it meant he got to have her in the mean time, he would gladly accept whatever end was coming.

Her hands continued to move, sliding around to his back, down his thighs, everywhere except for where he truly wanted them to be, but then, that would spoil the game. They'd dropped any pretense of what this was really about, but neither was ready to end the facade just yet, enjoying the string tight tension that was vibrating between them. 

Luke pulled her slowly back up out of the split and grinned as she placed her hands on his shoulders instead. She didn't need to push him down, he'd trained for years to be able to do this, and he allowed himself to slip slowly down until he was at hip height. He grinned up at her, his hands trailing the same paths hers had taken, watching as her eyes slid shut and her teeth caught her bottom lip, a muffled moan falling from them none the less. The sound shot through him like a bolt, setting his body to shaking with the effort it took not to simply pull her down after him.

He looked up at her, catching her eyes in a heated gaze, that same lazy smirk still in place as he watched her lips fall open, a whisper of breath gusting out of her as his fingers began to play around the waist of her pants. A squealing beep jolted them both from their heated contest of wills and drew their attention back to the distant control console.

“That was fast.” Luke said, the mood evaporating around them like mist under morning sun. Something wasn't right. They'd barely been waiting an hour, no way they'd had time to search for Suzie yet. He straightened up, motioning for Ori to stay where she was before moving quickly back up the ship to the cockpit, tapping the flashing button, the crystalline face of a Myneyrshi coming quickly into focus.

“Your search request has been rejected, please leave Wayland air space immediately.” The screen went black, a transmission coming through a moment later with a more detailed message regarding why the search wouldn't be happening. Luke pulled the ship out of orbit, heading out past the planet's territory and parking the ship. None of this seemed right to him.

“Luke? Can I come out now?” Ori asked, her voice heavy with apprehension. He looked down the corridor and nodded, motioning for her to join him in the cockpit. She all but ran toward him, her eyes glued on the data pad he held. “What's going on?” She asked, seating herself in the pilot's seat.

“They won't do the search. I'm not sure why yet, they just sent up an explanation.” His eyes flew over the data pad, his expression darkening with each passing word. The document was in near incomprehensible legal jargon, but he got the point well enough. Their all mighty leader had deemed it too dangerous to get involved in the affairs of a Jedi. “It's C'baoth, he won't do the search because I'm the one asking.” He sighed, tossing the data pad onto the console, his eyes closing as anger and disappointment warred inside him.

“Rat bastard. Well it still tells us something. If he thought she was there, he wouldn't have said no, dictators are paranoid above all else. So, where to next? Are we staying in the outer rim?” She stuffed her fear and anger down into the back of her mind. Getting angry at a Force powered despot wasn't going to help her find her friend and if he wanted to be a dick, let him, she had bigger problems to deal with at the moment.

“Well we were in hyperspace when you appeared on the ship, so there are several places she could've come through at. You said she fell before you got through the portal right? So she would've come out first.” Luke leaned forward over the console, plotting out the other most likely candidates on the navi computer. Only two planets coincided with her arrival time and their route through hyperspace.

“Well that's good news, not a lot to search.” Ori said, though her smile died the moment she saw his face. He looked almost afraid, though what had caused the fear was a mystery to her. “What's wrong? They aren't dead planets are they?” She asked, moving her chair so that the screen was in view. The names were foreign to her, having never featured in any of the movies.

“Korriban is on the list. We just have to hope she didn't land there.” He said, punching in the coordinates for a place called Saleucami. She read through the description the computer supplied, it seemed nice enough. But what was this Korriban place all about?

“Is that bad?” She asked, looking up at him from the screen. “You look like someone just walked over your grave.” She said, pushing out a soft laugh in a vain attempt to lighten the mood.

“Ori, Korriban is one of only two planets in the entire galaxy that was ruled by the Sith. It is a beacon of dark power. If she landed there...” He caught her eye, the message coming through loud and clear. She hated how much sense it made. If Suzie came through there, then Palpatine had her, and everything she'd seen was true. But then again, Anakin had created his own self fulfilling prophecy by listening to his visions too much and allowing his own personal fears to rule his destiny. For all she knew, these visions were just bad dreams, brought on by her own fear and need to see her friend again. Only time would be able to tell which was true.


	11. Release

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first off I want to say I am sooooo sorry for how long this took to go up. I won't bore you with a bunch of excuses, basically my family life went to hell and my anxiety decided I didn't get to write more than three sentences a day for over a month. I have an event I'm going to this weekend so I can't promise I'll have anything up next week, but I'll definitely try and get something up the week after.

She huffed out a breath as the latest round of scans came up with nothing. They'd been on Saleucami for nearly a week now and there had been no sign that Suzie had ever been there. She tried to contain the fear that thought caused inside her, but nothing seemed to be able to drive her visions from her mind. 

They were coming every night now, macabre picture shows of all the torment and pain Suzie was going through, all while she searched desperately through the galaxy to find her. She could hear her screams, the smell of her blood wafting around her even while she was awake, and those eyes, his eyes, following her every move. He could see her, she knew it, from wherever he was in the galaxy, he was watching her, taking perverse pleasure in her suffering.

“Ori.” Luke's hand closed softly over her own, grounding her firmly in the moment, driving the darkness to the back of her mind. “You have to fight it.” His voice was quiet, but heavy with meaning. They'd had a great deal of time to talk over the past week, since Wayland had turned them away, and the topic of her emotional control had come up a lot. She knew it was a danger to her, how quickly she seemed to disappear into the darker parts of her mind, but she couldn't help it. She didn't know how to control it yet, and if she was being honest with herself, she wasn't sure she wanted to. 

“I'm okay, just worried.” She said, shaking her head to banish the thoughts. She'd been having them more and more often as they got closer to civilization. It was like the presence of other people amplified his presence somehow, making it so much louder than it was in deep space. She made a mental note to ask Luke about it later, but for now they both needed to get back to the ship. Suzie wasn't here and that could only mean one thing. 

“Worry is natural, but you can't let it take root in your mind or he'll use it against you. I know it's difficult, but neither of us can afford to be weak right now.” He said, pulling her into a tight hug. He'd been hoping against hope that they would find her here, that she would be tucked safely away in one of the many healing centers that littered the oases of the otherwise barren planet, but he'd known, deep down, that it wasn't going to be that easy.

“I can feel him, it's like he's watching me, even now. How do I make it stop?” She asked, the anxiety she'd tried so hard to push away swelling up in her chest. Her breath hitched and stuttered as her heart kicked up a beat or two. She hated how afraid she was, how much a simple pair of eyes could derail her otherwise stalwart mental defenses. She knew the cause, knew why he scared her so much, and it was silly really, but try as she might, she couldn't seem to get past it.

“You can't. But you can fight back. He thrives on your fear, twists it to his advantage, but you can use it to yours as well. Turn it back on him. Remind him what happened the last time he tried to corrupt a Jedi.” He pulled back, catching her eyes and projecting a single image to her. It was simple, a black clad figure dropping down a seemingly bottomless shaft, rings of blue fire erupting a moment later. “Remember, when faced with fear, you don't run, you fight.” He said, watching as the fear in her eyes began to fade, replaced with a weak sense of resolution. She wasn't ready yet, he knew, and she wasn't going to be before they reached Korriban.

“Got it. Gonna get that tattooed somewhere.” She said, laughing softly, feeling her body slowly coming down from the near panic it had been in. She hated how she trembled, her body shaking like a damn leaf in a storm over literally nothing. Why was she so weak? What was she doing wrong? How the hell did Luke manage to keep his cool when he had to be feeling the same thing if not worse? 

“Come on, let's get back to the ship. She isn't here.” Luke said, taking her hand gently in his own, wincing internally as she tenses. She'd been doing so well on Yavin, her confidence growing, her powers steadily coming under her control, but the moment they got out into deep space, it had all fallen apart. What little control she'd managed to gain over her own thoughts had slipped away and she was back to the shaking mess of panic and fear that he'd first met. This couldn't all be from Palpatine, surely, but then what was the cause? He wished that he had someone to talk to about all this, his mind conjuring images of Obi Wan and Yoda, but he didn't. He was alone, just like her, and it was up to him to keep her from turning down the path that had claimed his father, and almost claimed him as well.

“Off to the hell planet we go.” She said, slipping her hand from his and walking determinedly back toward the ship. She felt her stomach clench in abject terror. She would never claim to be an expert in the Force, but going to a planet that was literally dedicated to the dark side, with her control as weak as it was, couldn't mean good things for her. What if she slipped up? What if he was there? 

“No Ori, we're not going to Korriban.” Luke said, pulling her around to face him, her grimace of imagined pain only serving to confirm his suspicions. “Not yet. You aren't ready.” He watched as emotions warred on her face. She knew he was right, he could tell that much from the slope of her shoulders, falling forward in defeat, but it didn't mean he was going to get out of this without an argument.

“But you said...” He cut her off with a finger, placing it gently over her lips to forestall any further argument.

“I know what you're going to say, and I know what I said. I know you think I don't understand how you feel, that I'm being callous or overly cautious, but I'm not. I've been where you are, my friends out there in the galaxy, under the thumb of a mad man and in literal life threatening danger, and I ran off after them before I was ready. I paid the price for that.” He held up his right hand, flexing his mechanical fingers so she could hear the servos moving under his synthetic skin. “We will go to Korriban, but only when I feel that you're ready.” He moved his finger away from her lips, a small part of him cheering as her body swayed forward to follow it before catching herself.

“This is different.” She said, the images from her latest vision flashing through her mind. “He doesn't want anything from her, he isn't trying to get information or codes or gain any advantage over anyone. He's torturing her, to get to me. If I go, she can be saved. I know this probably all sounds very heroic and self sacrificing to you, but you don't understand. Suzie is my family.” She looked up at him, hoping to see some crack in his resolve.

“Han and Leia are mine, have been since I met them. I know this is hard for you to grasp because none of this was real for you until now, but what you feel, is what I felt when I left master Yoda on Dagobah.” He rested a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently to offer what little comfort he could. “I need you to trust me Ori, please.” He caught her eyes and held them, keeping her rooted in the moment until he felt her emotions beginning to ebb. 

“Okay, we wait.” She said, her Force print turning a worrying shade of violet. He'd come to associate that particular color with sadness, depression she called it. He hated being the cause of her pain, but he knew he was right. If they rushed off to Korriban now, she would fall, and he would never be able to forgive himself. 

“You go rest, I'll let Leia know we're on our way back.” Luke said, pushing her gently toward the bunks at the back of the ship the moment they made it into the ship. He felt her tense under his hand and caught the look of near panic that flashed across her face before she seemed to swallow it down. “What is it?” He asked, turning his full attention to her. He'd been sensing her rising fear each night they'd been on the planet, but had just chalked it up to her worry over her friend, but now he was beginning to understand that it might be something else entirely.

“It's nothing, I'm okay.” She said, turning a weak smile his direction before heading back toward the bunks. It hurt him to think she was keeping something from him, that she was holding back after all they'd shared. He didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but he wasn't going to let her suffer alone, so instead of heading up to the cockpit, he let his heart guide his feet after her.

“Ori. I know something is bothering you. Tell me what's wrong.” He said, his body blocking the doorway to the room, effectively trapping her in with him. His eyes searched her face as she seemed to think over her response. Part of him wanted to demand the complete truth, but he knew that would only get him pushed further away from her, and with what they were facing, he couldn't afford it.

“It's the dreams, the ones I've been having about Suzie. I know he's just using them to manipulate me, make me afraid and anxious, but that doesn't stop it from working. Sleep is kind of terrifying for me right now.” She sighed, dropping down onto her bunk. She hated feeling like this, to be so scared of something so simple, it felt ridiculous to her, but then, this wasn't the first time it had happened.

Luke could tell there was more to the issue than what she was saying, some deeper fear or old wound that was feeding into the problem, but he couldn't think of a way to ask without sounding hostile, so he simply sighed, settling himself down on the bunk beside her and wrapping an arm around her, pulling her in close.

He wanted to say something profound and supportive, something that would set her racing mind at ease and allow her to sleep, but nothing he could think of seemed to fit. She wasn't scared of her dreams, at least not exactly, she was afraid of closing her eyes. How the hell was he supposed to make her feel better about that? Then a thought struck him that had him fighting back a grin. 

“I might be able to help. I think its time we stepped up your training.” He pitched his voice low as he spoke, remembering the way her body had reacted the last time. “Get into something more comfortable. I'll be right back.” He was careful as he extricated himself from her bunk, his hand running slowly along her back as he rose to his feet. He felt the beginnings of the shudder he knew would race through her body as he pulled away.

He let the grin slide across his face in full as he heard the soft half sigh that escaped her lips as he slipped out the door. He would have to play this carefully if he wanted it to work. She was still fragile emotionally, and too much pushing too soon could very well send her back into that darkness that had so nearly swallowed her the first time. But if he did it right, well, it would certainly help her sleep.

Ori, for her part, was a strange mixture of relieved and confused. She thought she was in for at least a little bit of an argument, but he'd just walked away, and what had he meant by stepping up her training? That's all they'd been doing for the past seven days, meditating and visualizing, levitating and sensing, it never stopped. How did one step up from that? 

She shook her head, trying to ground her thoughts in the moment as she stood up and began to shuck out of her travel clothes, grabbing the massive sleep shirt she'd been wearing that morning and slipping it on over a pair of what she could only call leggings. If this didn't count as comfortable, she didn't know what did. She felt her heart kick up a beat as she heard Luke give his usual goodbye to his sister. Why the hell was she so nervous? She sighed, chalking it up to her lack of sleep and settled herself down on her cushion, waiting for Luke to come back through the door.

His body language was off as he came back into the room, his movements reminding her more of a caged animal than the calm Jedi knight she'd come to know. This only served to heighten her own awareness of the room around her and the nerves coiling up inside her, a problem that was made all the worse as he began to slowly undress, tossing his clothing over onto his bunk as he stripped it away. He didn't stop until he was down to just his undershirt and pants, the image sparking memories of their little “stretching” session that had been so rudely interrupted.

She drew a calming breath as he settled onto his own cushion, it wouldn't do to dwell on that day, he'd done nothing since then, retreating back to the comfortable banter and occasional touches that had been their normal since they'd met, and she wasn't about to torture herself with images of something he clearly wasn't interested in, especially if he was going to be poking around in her brain, which she figured was what came next.

“Are you ready?” He asked, his eyes catching her gaze as it wandered over his face. He really was one of the most handsome men she'd ever seen, and those eyes, she would happily get lost in them for the rest of her life. She felt a bit silly, still nursing the same attraction she'd formed when she was a child, but she couldn't help it, especially given how he was looking at her now.

“I guess.” She said, trying to suppress both her anxiety and the ever present desire she felt for him. It was difficult, she didn't have the best mental control at the best of times, but she managed to get her mind as close to clear as it ever got, and drew in a deep breath, relaxing into the meditation she'd finally learned to access. It still felt strange to her, like falling in a dream. She knew she wasn't moving, knew that the world around her was still, and yet she felt the rush of air past her face, the tingling of the air around her whipping past her skin, and the strange rushing sound that she'd always just assumed was her own blood in her veins.

“You're getting good at that.” Luke's voice sounded so far away to her now, muffled and dull, like it was coming through the glass of a fish tank. “Now find me.” He said, his presence seeming to vanish from in front of her. The lack of him sent her mind reeling for a moment, fear clouding in on the serenity she always seemed to fight. Her logical brain kicked in and reminded her that he wasn't really gone, not physically, he'd just closed her off from the link they had yet to fully figure out. She wasn't alone, not really, she just had to find his Force print.

Feeling herself steady in the swirl of her own emotions, she reached out with her mind, searching through the web work of colors that seemed to stretch on into eternity in every direction. This place had terrified her when she first discovered it, images of the void stretching out, dark and cold, in every direction, blocking the web of colors from her until Luke was forced to pull her from the meditation. But now she'd learned to read this place, see it for the map it was, and navigate it accordingly.

A flash of something soft and red caught her eye, drawing her down along a straight path to a new nest of colors. This one seemed almost orderly in comparison to her own, with the exception of a single corner, it seemed to roll and pulse with a soft red glow. It felt warmer than the rest of the threads around her, radiating a subtle heat that made her want to reach out for it. She'd learned early on that touching anything in this nexus of energy could have some unforeseen consequences, but it just looked so inviting.

Her hand barely had a chance to reach the little bundle of color before a whirl of images assaulted her. She saw herself, laying in her bunk, her body shifting under the blanket, plenty of flesh on display as all manner of sinful noises echoed around her. She felt a spike of pleasure shoot through her, though she knew it wasn't her own. The realization of what she was seeing sent a strange mixture of desire and embarrassment racing through her in equal measure and she was about to let go when the vision shifted.

She watched as Luke delved into her mind, seeing the images that made up the dream that had been her constant frustrating companion since they'd started this little journey. She could sense the shock and deep pleasure that raced through him as he watched her body writhe and her own desire rose to meet it, heating her physical boy to an almost uncomfortable degree. 

The scene faded, quickly replaced by another that she'd never seen before. Her body was pinned to the edge of the bunk, her skin bare to the chilly current that never seemed to leave the tiny ship. She was flushed with need, her pupils blown so wide their color was almost gone and hands were slowly sliding her leggings away, the same leggings she was wearing now.

She was pulled from her meditation by a gentle yet inescapable force, sliding her slowly from the cushion and back against the edge of the bunk. Her hands began to float back toward the mattress, seemingly out of her control, only stopping once they'd been pinned back. Her eyes sought those of her companion, her mind struggling to fully comprehend what was happening, only to have her breath leave in a shocked whimper at the look of pure hunger she saw on his face.

“Now you know what's at stake. Your lesson for today is to break free. For every failed attempt, you're going to lose something.” His voice was low and deep in his chest, his breath whispering through the silent room as he waited for her to catch up to what was going on. “If you lose everything and still can't break free, you're mine for the night. Sound fair?” He asked, that smirk streaking quickly across his face. Did he mean what she thought he meant? She felt her whole body quiver at the thought, part of her resolving to simply give up right at the start, but as the first of her socks slid slowly from her foot, she knew that he wasn't going to let her get away without really trying.

Her eyes slid closed as she tried to focus on what he'd taught her so far. He was holding her pinned with the Force, which meant that if she could just concentrate, she should be able to disrupt it and get free. The problem with that plan was the extremely attractive and infinitely more experienced Jedi that was doing his best to keep her distracted, sliding the other sock away from her skin just as slowly, sending a faint tickle up her leg and making her squirm.

“That is very distracting ya know.” She whispered, trying in vain to get her brain to focus as it danced delicious images through her mind. 

“You've been a constant distraction for me since we met. If I can focus through all your dreaming and moaning, surely you can focus through this.” His voice was downright evil in that moment, and she could feel just how much he was enjoying himself, how badly he wanted her. It did nothing to help her situation. “The shirt goes next.” He whispered, the whisper of fabric over metal letting her know he was slowly growing closer.

She let out a soft whimper, her body pulling against the invisible bonds that held her in place, though for what purpose was slowly becoming clouded. Her body, already warm from the images she'd seen in his mind, began to tremble as desire flooded through her. 

“Well that isn't going to help anything.” His breath whispered across her neck as her body bowed out in a futile struggle to get free. The shock of it had her gasping and turning her head in a vain attempt at some contact. The only response she got was a deep chuckle and the continued sliding of the shirt. It stopped just below the curve of her breasts and she felt her heart beat kick into overdrive. Why had she decided to leave her bra off? Of all the days to go without it, why today?

“Focus Oria.” The husky whisper shot desire straight to her core and she felt her hips begin to roll and move. Another band of Force restraint circled her hips, pulling them down to the floor, stilling her movements. She let out a frantic whimper as the shirt began to inch up over the bottom swell of her breasts, the chilly air sending goosebumps racing over the newly exposed skin.

A low growl sounded just in front of her as the cloth slipped up toward her collarbone. It was primal, and hungry, and so very masculine that she felt what little control she had over her mind slip away. She knew there was no way she was winning this, a big part of her didn't want to, but her natural competitiveness wouldn't let her give up.

“You're running out of time Ori.” His lips brushed her ear, earning another gasp that was followed quickly by a needy whimper as cloth whispered through the air between them, her arms dropping quickly back to their position on the bed. Another shirt fell to the floor and a fresh wave of desire coursed through her. She wanted to open her eyes, see just what he looked like without a shirt, see those toned muscles she'd felt bunch and roll as he moved. But a part of her wasn't ready to give up yet.

She felt her pants begin to slip away, the Force pulling her hips slowly from the floor. Her pulse kicked up another few beats, her mind struggling to focus on the wispy bands of glowing blue she could see encircling her. But try as she might, she couldn't break them. She tried to push her own Force energy through them, hoping to disrupt them, but it only seemed to make them stronger, more solid.

“Not bad. But that isn't going to help you, not now.” The leggings slid down her legs, whipping themselves clear across the room and leaving her in nothing but the pale blue underwear she'd chosen that morning. She heard a throaty groan echo around them as hands began to dance over her skin. “Open your eyes.” His breath ghosted over her skin as he spoke, liquid heat pooling at her core as she clenched around empty air. “Give up and let me have you.” He whispered, his lips tracing slowly down the vein she could feel pulsing in her neck. It set her skin on fire and pulled a hitching gasp from her that sounded almost afraid.

“Not yet.” She whispered, redoubling her efforts to break the Force bonds. She felt them slowly beginning to bend under her influence, loosening a millimeter at a time, but whatever focus she had was dashed as her underwear slipped swiftly down her legs, leaving her bare. She'd lost.

She felt the bonds leave her just as Luke's body pressed up against her, his lips searing against her own as he claimed her mouth. Her body moved on its own, fingers burying themselves in his soft sandy hair as her back arched into the heat of his bare chest. It felt so good, almost too good, her mind swimming in an intoxicating mixture of happiness and pure, unbridled need.

His hands danced over her skin, gliding over every bit of her except the places she needed him most. She felt herself moving before she could even register she'd done it, pushing up against him until he fell back. She settled her knees on either side of his hips, grinding down against him as her tongue danced against his own. 

Strong hands gripped her hips tight, holding her to him as he heaved his body up, flipping them and pinning her in place. She gasped as the cold metal met her back, arching up to get away from it, only to have her body slam back down against the floor as the Force coiled tightly around her.

“That wasn't very nice.” He growled, his hands resuming their slow traces. “I said you were mine, all night.” His eyes danced with mischief as his lips spread in a lazy grin. She whimpered, trying in vain to break out of the latest round of Force binding, but a gentle flick to one pert nipple sent her thoughts scattering to the edges of her mind. 

“Luke...please.” She whimpered, moaning low in her chest as he slowly began to kneed first one breast and then the other. 

“I've wanted you since the day I met you. The way that suit hugged you, I could see every curve.” His lips picked up where his fingers left off, tracing burning trails over her neck and collarbone while his hands gently rolled and pulled at her nipples, sending wave after wave of pleasure racing through her. “I could feel how much you wanted me, saw memories of what you would do to yourself at night when you thought no one would see.” He nipped at her pulse point, sucking a bruise into the tender flesh. “I know you need me, I can feel the fire in your blood, but not yet, I'm gonna make this last.” His body pulled away from her completely, leaving her chilled and panting on the floor as he stood and made quick work of the pants and underwear that were making him ache.

She drew in a sharp breath as she took in the size of him, her mouth watering at the idea of what he would taste like. A soft gasp pulled her attention up to his face where his eyes were wide with shock, and something much darker. She let the image pass through her mind again, watching as his whole body seemed to lurch forward, drawn to the silent promise she was making. She watched as he walked slowly over to her bunk, the Force slowly sliding from her body, releasing her, but she didn't move.

“Come here.” He held out a hand, pulling her slowly up onto her knees, his eyes burning with heat and desire. “Show me again.” He whispered, his eyes going wide as she let the scene play out a third time in her mind. The groan that fell from his lips was enough to have her dripping as her hands slowly slid up his thighs, fingers wrapping around his hard shaft as she held his gaze. His eyes slid closed as her hand began to pump slowly over him, taking time to learn just what motions would make his toes curl. “Do it.” He groaned, one hand slowly threading through her curls as she dropped her head down.

The moan that echoed around the tiny bunk space was like lightning down her spine as she wrapped her lips around him, taking in as much of his length as she could without choking. The hand in her hair clenched tight as she swallowed his down, a strange tingling beginning in her belly as she started to bob her head up and down. 

Her core was pulsing almost painfully, slick with desire and clenching in a vain attempt at friction. One hand slid slowly away from his lap, burying itself into her own wet folds. But no sooner had she begun to circle herself than her hand was being pulled away, along with her lips, her head pulled up to meet stormy blue eyes.

“I didn't tell you to do that.” He growled, looking at the glistening moisture on her fingers as it was a smoking gun. “Naughty.” He released her hair, grinning at the whimper of defeat that left her lips. “That's mine for tonight, and I don't like to share.” He whispered, pushing her back to the floor, which had somehow magically spawned a blanket. She opened her mouth to speak, only to swallow whatever words she'd been preparing in a strangle gasp as he descended on her. His mouth closed over the hypersensitive bundle of nerves at her core and all she saw was white. 

Her world seemed to narrow down to that one point of pure pleasure as his tongue flicked and circled, sucking gently every few strokes until her body was bowed nearly double. Her mind went blank as two fingers slowly slid into her, pressing and rubbing until they found that one spot that made her go rigid. Her hands grasped at air as her body trembled, feeling the rush that she knew would lead her over the edge.

“Gods! Oh fuck...Luke...please...” She didn't even know what she asking for, all she knew was that she didn't want it to stop. She felt a third finger slide into her, scissoring back and forth with the others and the coil of pleasure that had been gathering in her belly snapped loose. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as pleasure raced through her, her back bent nearly double with only Luke's hand on her belly to keep her from flying apart.

“Now it's my turn.” He whispered, crawling slowly upward until he was resting just outside her sopping channel. He peppered her neck with kisses, stroking one hand slowly down her torso as she floated back down to herself, his thick member sliding slowly into her until he was buried inside her completely.

“No.” She panted, a lazy grin spreading across her lips. “Now it's my turn.” She purred, heaving up with her hips and twisting, pinning him beneath her on the blanket. “You've had enough fun.” She forestalled any argument with one decisive snap of her hips, sending Luke's eyes to rolling as she set a steady pace.

“Ori, you're breaking the rules.” He groaned, his hands closing in a vice like grip around her hips. 

“You can spank me later.” She said, grinning at the answering hiss before a stinging swat landed on her naked ass. She yelped, her body bowing forward so that she was pressed fully against him, another swat landing a moment later. 

“I never really liked waiting.” He whispered, his hips grinding up into her. She wanted to respond, to win at least one contest, but as the stars swam in her vision, she knew it was a lost cause. “No more talk.” He growled, pushing up against her, carrying her body forward until she was perched on his bent legs, all her weight resting on her center.

She couldn't help the gasping moans that rained from her lips, her eyes sliding closed as her body slowly began to fold, curling in toward Luke as he slammed into her. She'd never felt so full, the pressure of his thrusts sending little shocks through her belly, all she could do was grip onto his shoulders and let the sensation was over her.

“Come on, let go, let me see it.” His voice was low and heavy, pounding into her so hard it almost hurt. “Give in Ori.” He growled, catching her eyes just as the spring in her belly snapped, her vision going white as her body bowed against him, but he didn't stop. Her body hit the floor as he pressed into her, his hips pistoning in and out in a staccato rhythm that had her seeing stars until he stilled, spilling himself inside her with a hoarse shout.

She felt his body drop beside her, the smell of sweat and sex filling the tiny space as their panting breaths slowly began to return to normal. She could feel the exhaustion slowly creeping up on her, too many nights of not enough sleep weren't exactly conducive to rough sex, but she couldn't keep the smile from her face. That had been better than anything she could imagine.

A pair of strong arms encircled her shoulders and hips, lifting her from the floor and placing her against the soft warmth of her bunk, those same arms wrapping around her a moment later. She sighed as she felt Luke pull her back against his chest, the blanket moving from the floor to drape over them both as the lights dimmed.

“Thank you.” She murmured, her mind already well on its way to dream land. The last thing she remembered before darkness stole over her was a soft laugh and a gentle kiss pressed to her temple.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! So I know this story has been on hiatus for a little while, but that's just because I was focusing on getting my book finished. I am pleased to report I have done so, one finished manuscript that I am now letting betas tear apart. I'm still dong rewrites, so I won't be able to devote all my time to this, I also have another fanfic I'm working on, so updates will be spotty, but this story is officially off hiatus and back in production. I gave you guys a super long chapter to start back with so I hope you enjoy and please leave me a review down at the bottom of the screen so I know you liked it!

Ori woke slowly the next morning, still trapped in the cage of Luke's arms, and she couldn't stop from smiling stupidly as memories of the previous night drifted through her mind, punctuated by a soft groan that echoed just by her ear. She felt something hard slide against the bare skin of her back and her smile slid down into a devilish grin. She couldn't tell if he was still fully asleep or not, and decided to have a little fun.

She stretched, exaggerating the curve of her back so that her hips would roll ever so slightly against the delicious hardness that she could feel pulsing behind her. A muffled moan filled the tiny space as his arms tightened around her, pulling her flush against him as his hips stuttered forward. It set her on fire, her thighs clenching together as her core began to pulse.

“That wasn't fair.” His voice was rough with sleep and lust, sending a fresh wave of need through her as his hand began to move slowly over her flushed skin. She sighed as she relaxed back against him, surrendering to whatever he was willing to give her.

“I saw an opportunity.” She said, biting her lip softly as he began to circle a finger lazily around one nipple, hardening it to a peak that he began to pinch and roll. Shivers raced through her as she gasped out a tiny whimper, her head turning slowly to find his lips, capturing them in a sensual kiss.

His other arm stayed wrapped around her hips, holding her in place as he slowly slipped his cock between her legs, its hard length sliding through her lips. He growled as he swallowed down every gasp and moan he earned, the head of his cock bumping up against her clit with each thrust. 

“You are perfect.” He whispered, gripping hard at one breast as he buried his face in her neck, latching onto the spot he'd wanted to taste since he met her. His lips closed over her jumping pulse, teeth catching the sensitive skin and sucking it into his mouth, relishing in the way her body arched and shook as she moaned. He hadn't intended to leave much of a mark, but as her fingers gripped his hair, hips rolling against his hardness, he couldn't help himself.

She all but screamed as she felt him latch onto her neck, sucking and biting at it as her vision went blurry. She wanted him, wanted to feel him inside her again, but the build up felt so good, she was reluctant to make any move that would end it too soon.

He released her neck with a soft pop, his tongue laving slowly over the now thoroughly bruised skin as his hand began to slide down her body, nestling down into her lower lips until he found her clit. She tried to roll her hips, needing friction, some kind of relief from the pulsing tension she was feeling, but his cybernetic hand was more than strong enough to keep her still, his cock sliding slowly into her a moment later.

“You didn't follow the rules last night. That means I get you all day today.” He growled, his voice tight and strained. She tried valiantly to respond, but could only manage a long groan as he began to move his fingers in time with his thrusts. “You feel so good Ori.” He whispered, his grip on her slowly tightening as he began to move in earnest. “So tight,” his fingers began to add a bit more pressure to her, “so wet.” His voice was barely more than a grunt as he all but crushed her to him. 

She'd never imagined he could talk like that and the words sent fire down her spine, wringing a shocked gasp from her as she felt her body beginning to tense. Her fingers closed in a vice like grip around his arms, needing something to hang on to as he slowly drove her insane. She wanted to speak, to beg him for me, to go harder, faster, but all she could manage was a strangled moan of his name, and all she got in response was a hoarse chuckle, deep and knowing. 

“Not this time Oria, I wanted last night to last,” his words were cut off by a harsh gasp as her nails bit into his skin, “I'm not giving in again.” As if to prove his words, his hips slowed back to their original pace, each thrust measured to hit every spot she had, sending stars dancing in her vision as her heart thundered in her chest. 

“Please...Luke I need...” Her words were cut off by a throaty shout as he pinched sharply at her clit. The pleasure pain was all she needed to send her careening into orgasm, her channel clenching tightly around his cock as her back bowed forward, and then he kept her there. His fingers worked over her clit, his own strangled groan buried in the skin of her neck as he fought to keep still. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, his fingers left her folds, sliding back up her body to hold her to him in a crushing grip. She whimpered softly as she felt him, still hot and hard inside her, and her body reacted, her hips rolling slowly forward and back, begging for more, even as her exhausted mind cried for rest. A firm hand stilled her motions, stroking softly over the skin of her belly.

“Not yet. Open your mind to me Ori.” His voice was shaky and soft, sending shivers through her even as it calmed her racing heart, and she felt herself slip into meditation immediately. The contact was almost instantaneous, tying their minds together the moment his hips began to move. 

She could feel her body arch as pleasure she'd never known raced through her. It was like she was feeling every individual nerve, all singing and pulsing in tandem, sending every other thought or feeling from her mind. 

“Oh gods, Luke...” Her words were cut off as lips descended on her own, solidifying the link until it was a nearly tangible line between them. She could feel his pleasure, his desire, how he loved to watch her arch and tremble, and it felt good. She needed more, she needed to feel him cum with her. “Please, I need...” Her voice dropped into a throaty scream as his arms crushed her to him, his thrusts speeding up until he was pistoning into her.

“Cum for me Ori, let me feel what you feel.” He whispered, his breath coming in quick panting gasps as he fought to keep his tie with her. He'd never felt this good in his whole life. Feeling her this way, feeling himself inside her, it was too much, but he didn't want it to end. He could feel her body tensing, her muscles quivering and shaking as her brain was overloaded. “That's it, do it, come on...” He gasped, a hoarse shout echoing around them as she came, her walls clamping down tight around him and filling his mind with more pleasure than he'd ever felt. His body curled forward around her as his hips lost their rhythm, driving into her with abandon as he came.

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The next time Ori woke up, she was alone, her body splayed out on her tiny bunk, haphazardly covered by just the sheet. She felt a satisfied smile cross her face, and couldn't help the girlish giggle that bubbled up out of her as her mind replayed what had happened within the last twenty four hours. How had this happened?

“What're you laughing about back there?” Luke's voice echoed back to her from the cockpit and she felt her face flame, more giggles pushing their way out of her mouth. She still couldn't believe anything had happened at all, let alone the way she was remembering now. She felt silly, like she was stuck in some bad spinoff story of the movies she'd always loved. It was still so surreal for her sometimes, despite having been here for the better part of a month now.

“Just laughing at your methods.” She said, sitting slowly up out of the bed, her eyes taking in the destruction of their bunk room. Clothes were strewn everywhere, and Luke's blanket was still resting on the floor, a not so innocent reminder that had her cheeks burning. She'd actually slept with Luke Skywalker, twice. How many fangirls in her world would kill to say the same? 

She shook her head, a soft smile drifting across her face as she reached down, recovering the clothes she'd been wearing the night before, dressing as quickly as she could, given the soreness in certain parts, and shuffling slowly to the cockpit, grabbing one of their ready made meals along the way. They weren't the best food in the world, but she could honestly say she'd had worse, and at least these kept her full for a while.

“I was beginning to wonder if you were going to wake up.” Luke said, his usual grin in place. She answered it with one of her own as his eyes widened, taking in the outfit she'd chosen.

“Guess I had a lot of sleep to catch up on.” She said, turning her attention to the little pouch of food. “So, what's on the schedule for today. More training? Or...more training?” She asked, waggling her eyebrows at him. 

“More training.” He said, keeping his eyes on the star charts that covered his screen. His tone was neutral, but the smirk on his lips was enough to indicate just where his mind was. “The productive kind.” He said, looking up from his screen to catch her eyes.

“They can both be productive ya know.” She said, her grin turning slightly wolfish, followed quickly by laughter as he sighed, rolling his eyes and leaning back in his chair. She knew she shouldn't push her luck, they were both new to this, whatever it was between them, and she didn't want to push him away. But by that same token, she wanted to make sure he knew she was alright with everything that had happened.

“Are you gonna be like this all the way home?” He asked, though his tone was anything but upset. She watched as emotions flicked by in his eyes. There was desire, admiration, but also fear and reluctance.

“Who said I was gonna stop when we got home?” She asked, quirking a single eyebrow, grin fading down into a smirk as she turned back to her food. It was easier to tease him without the direct eye contact, and she was hungry.

“We don't exactly live alone ya know.” Luke said, his eyes still fixed on her face. Was she just teasing him? Had he made a mistake? He didn't want what they'd done to interfere with her actual training, but he also knew he would never be able to forget what they'd shared that morning.

“Those walls are mostly soundproofed. I'm sure we'll be fine.” She said, her attention apparently on the screens in front of her, though he knew better. She was waiting for his reaction, and it was both endearing and frustrating. He'd never had a hard time reading her before, but then, he'd never had to try and read a bed partner before. Finally, after a few moments of pregnant silence, she turned, a wide smile on her face, and he felt himself relax. “Unclench, I'm just fucking with you.” She laughed, rolling her eyes and making quick work of the rest of her meal.

He opened his mouth to respond, but his words were quickly swallowed by the sound of a proximity warning. All levity bled from the air, leaving only tension on threat as they both focused on the screens in front of them. A ship, large and hulking, had come out of hyper space right behind them, and it wasn't slowing down.

“Hang on.” Luke said, his hands flying over the console, firing up the engines and gripping the controls, maneuvering out of the way of the mass of metal.

“They're changing heading to match us.” Ori said, her eyes flicking between the targeting screen and the navicomputer terminal. Her hands were already busy plotting them a way out if they couldn't get it off their tail, but part of her was loathe to do that. This had to be tied to Suzie, there was no other explanation for it.

“Let's see them do this.” Luke said, dipping the ship straight down and gunning the engines. They rocketed down, flipping and turning until they had cleared the mass of the ship, coming to rest just by their rear engines. The hulk of a vessel tried to turn, but they had the upper hand now, easily staying out of its path until it simply went still in front of them.

“What the hell?” Ori asked, her eyes straining to focus on something that was slowly emerging from the top of the vessel. It was small and white, but it wasn't until it began to wave back and forth that she realized what it was meant to be, a joyous laugh bursting out of her. 

“Ori?” Luke looked over to her, feeling the sudden rush of happiness as the white metal on the top of the ship continued to move side to side. “What is it?” He asked, the flash of an incoming message catching his attention.

“It's Suzie.” She said, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. “She's waving a white flag.” She couldn't stop the laughter as it bubbled up out of her. They'd found her, or she'd found them, somehow. Something in the back of her mind pricked up at that thought, recognizing how wrong it was, but she didn't care. She wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, not when it came baring her friend. Luke felt the same reticence that Ori was unwilling to acknowledge, but his need for answers overrode his caution as he tapped the console, opening a channel between the two ships.

“Midsummer Night's Dream.” The voice was lilting and soft, but heart breakingly tired. Ori's heart clenched in her chest as she detected every crack and break.

“Merchant of Venice.” She said, her voice ringing out loud and clear, the choking sob on the other end breaking the dam of her emotions, tears clouding her vision until the stars beyond the viewing port were nothing but white blurs.

“Found you.” The comms channel went dead and the side of the ship began to open, a small docking port extending out into the vastness of space, an unspoken invitation that Luke was reluctant to accept. He looked over to share his concerns, and felt the argument die on his lips as he saw the tears streaming down Ori's face, the hopeful smile that was tinged with sadness around the edges. He couldn't deny her this, even if it was a really bad idea.

Without a word, he maneuvered their ship to the docking port, tensing as the mechanisms lock around the port to their ship. He'd never liked external docking, unhappy at the idea of his ship being attached to one he had no control over, but as the airlock sealed and the door slid open, his discomfort was swallowed whole by a rush of dread. 

“Ori wait!” He reached for her arm, missing it by less than an inch as she leapt toward the door, her arms wrapping around the haggard frame of a limping woman. Tears streamed down her face as she gripped the figure, blind to the hilt in her hand. His breath left him in a rush as he used every ounce of his strength to hold her still, but she was too powerful, fueled by a rage he'd never felt before.

The cabin filled with the smell of burnt flesh and cloth, the angry red glow of her saber protruding from Ori's back casting a sickening light on her shocked expression. The woman stepped away, the haggard appearance fading to reveal a shockingly beautiful face, marred by a vicious sneer.

“You could've had it all, stupid Ori, letting your heart get in the way of your head. You should've found me sooner.” Suzie hissed, the blade retracting into its hilt. She gripped Ori's body to her tightly, making small shushing sounds as her breath shortened to panicked gasps. “This is better, you can go join your pathetic mother and finally put all those sad memories to rest.” Her tone was sickly sweet and biting, twisting Ori's stuttering heart in her chest. She fought her spasming muscles, turning slowly to catch eyes with her friend, choking on a gasp as she was met with a sickening yellow.

“No,” she reached up with shaking hands, trailing fingers over too pale skin, “NO!” She tried to find her feet, intent on changing that hideous color, bringing back the beautiful brown she'd known for so long. But just as she found purchase, she was shoved roughly backward, falling into a screaming black abyss.

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“Ori! Wake up!” Luke's voice pushed through the mire of fear and pain that was stabbing at her mind.

Her eyes flew open with a gasp, her hands closing around her belly as her mind fought to make sense of what was going on. He tried to soothe her, but the moment his hand touched her skin, she bolted from the bed, stumbling and falling to her knees as the blanket caught at her feet.

A choking sob wracked her as she crawled slowly to the far corner of the room, curling up on herself, her eyes wide and wild. It twisted his heart in his chest to see her like this. He felt anger bloom in his chest as he thought of the man that caused it all, energy crackling against his skin for a moment before he caught himself. This is what he wanted, to turn them against themselves, to weaken them. 

“Ori, listen to my voice. I'm right here.” He gathered the blanket around his waist, his bare feet whispering across the metal floor as he knelt in front of her. “It's alright, you're safe.” He reached a hand slowly toward her, watching as her eyes fixed on it. Tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking into the loose strands of hair that still clung to her sweat drenched face, and her breath was barely more than hiccuping gasps. If he didn't calm her soon, she would pass out.

“She...Suzie...I saw...her eyes...” She drew in a gasp of air and dissolved into sobs once again, her body falling forward to fold into his lap, fingers gripping almost painfully at his arms, holding him in place. She was mumbling against his leg and he felt his heart break as he finally made out “my fault”. Whatever she'd seen, it wasn't good.

“It was a dream Ori, come back to me.” He said, his voice soft as his hands settled on her bare back. “Whatever you saw, it wasn't real.” He gripped her shoulders loosely, pulling her out of his lap. “Look at me.” He tried to catch her eyes, but she was gone, vanished into her mind where her dream could torment her. “Ori! Snap out of it!” He barked, giving her a solid shake.

He took a calming breath as her eyes snapped into focus, her chest heaving as she drew in a ragged breath. Her grip on his arms loosened as she sagged back against the wall of the ship, eyes closed, breathing shaky. He'd never seen her this bad before.

“We have to stop looking for Suzie.” Her voice was unlike he'd ever heard it before, cold and distant. He could feel the Force link between them shiver as she tried to block him out.

“What? Why?” He exerted all the strength he could down his end of the link, hoping it would be enough to keep it open, but the shiver returned, followed quickly by an icy snap of separation as she cut herself off from him.

“My dream, vision, whatever the hell you want to call it. It showed me Suzie, as a full on Sith warrior. She stabbed me, right here.” She clutched at her belly, hands still shaking with remembered pain. “I don't know if it was real or not, if she really has gone Dark Side, but I can't risk finding out the hard way.” She swallowed hard, the strain of keeping the link blocked clearly taxing her.

“Why are you shutting me out?” He tried to keep the hurt from his voice, tried to remind himself that there was much more going on here than whatever was beginning to grow between them, but he could tell by the way her face crumpled that he'd failed.

“I can't be a burden to you anymore. You said it yourself, what I feel, you feel. I'm not just a danger to myself anymore, I'm a danger to you, and if we have not only Suzie, but also the ex emperor coming after us, then you need to be at the top of your game. I put you at a disadvantage, and I won't have your death on my hands too.” She said, standing and walking determinedly over to her suitcase. She ignored him as he began to move around the bunk room, shoving herself into whatever clothes she came across first.

“Ori, please, just stop for a second and think about what you're doing.” He reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder, only to have the sound of the proximity alarm blare loudly through the ship. He didn't need his Force connection to see the fear that crossed her face. Whatever was coming, she'd already seen it.

“Don't let her in.” She said, her voice full of dread and raw terror. “Whatever you do, don't let her on this ship.” She rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a blaster and her hair clip, twisting her curls up into a knot at the back of her head and checking that the weapon was primed to fire.

“Ori enough.” He pulled the blaster from her hand and tossed it onto his bed, slipping into some pants and a loose tunic before disappearing into the cockpit, taking the weapon with him. She wanted to move, wanted to see what the alarm was about, to see if she was right, but fear held her hostage, keeping her cowering behind the cover of the bunk room wall. She would wait until Suzie was on board, and then she would make sure her vision didn't come true.

“Midsummer Night's Dream” The voice was identical, crackling across the comms line and twisting her heart in her chest. She sounded so tired, so ragged and worn down. Maybe her vision was just fear twisting her perception. She bolted to the cockpit, her body moving without permission from her brain.

“Merchant of Venice.” She said, waiting for the next line, the one that would confirm she was right. But it never came. Instead all that came was a simple order to dock at the rear of the ship, which Luke cautiously agreed to.

“There, see?” Luke said, pointing toward the large, well light hangar they were flying into. He caught the look of confused relief on her face and couldn't help but smile. “Let me guess, not how it went in your dream?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he directed a smug smile in her direction.

“Oh shut up Skywalker.” She said, rolling her eyes as she waited for the gangway to lower. Her hand itched for the blaster that was still gripped tightly in Luke's hand, and she wondered, for a moment, if it wasn't so that he could protect her if she turned out to be right.

Her heart thundered in her chest as a pair of shuffling footsteps began to make their way up the metal ramp, Suzie's exhausted face coming into view a moment later. She looked so different than what Ori had seen in her dream. There was no sign of a weapon, no feigned limp, just very real fatigue that made her want nothing more than to comfort her friend, but she had to be sure.

The moment the gangway was closed and the ship was free of the hangar, they resumed course to Yavin 4 and Ori slowly approached her friend, only to have the other woman jump back in terror.

“Wait, don't shoot me, I'm not evil I promise.” She said, cowering back into a corner, her eyes wide and searching. 

“Whoa, Suzie, I'm not gonna shoot you, I'm not even armed.” Ori said, turning slowly on the spot so that Suzie could see she had no weapon. “Why would you think I was gonna shoot you?” She asked, kneeling down to be at eye level with her friend. She believed Luke now, her dream had been nothing more than fear manifesting across a benign vision of the future. Her friend needed her.

“I met a man, he showed me the future. You shot me, right here.” Suzie hiccuped around a sob as her finger jabbed against her chest, directly over her heart. “I felt it, plain as day.” She screwed her eyes shut, clutching the threadbare shawl she wore tightly around her.

“Suzie, we both know I am not that good of a shot. If I was aiming at your heart I'd probably just graze your shoulder, if I hit you at all. Now will you come here and let me hug you?” She tried to keep the tears from spilling over, wanting to appear strong and calm for her friend, but as those big brown eyes caught her shining green, she felt the dam in her chest burst.

Suzie opened her mouth, tried to speak, but could only sob and nod as she launched herself at her friend, wrapping her too thin arms around her neck in a crushing embrace that carried them both to the floor, but neither woman cared. They laid there, ignorant of time or the Jedi silently piloting the ship, and vented all the fear and pain and loss they'd both been feeling since the tunnel collapsed. It wasn't until Suzie began to shake that Ori came back to herself.

“When is the last time you ate?” She asked, pulling her emaciated friend slowly away from her. She was all skin and bones, dark bruises and scabbing cuts visible on every inch of exposed skin, and it made Ori's stomach twist with rage. She would find whoever had done this and make sure they paid.

“They didn't feed me much, a few days, I think.” Suzie said, flinching away from the angry expression on her friend's face. “But I don't want to go into that now. I found you, that's all that matters.” She brushed skeletal fingers down her friend's cheek, a heart stopping smile on her thin face. “Let's just look forward now huh?” Her eyes all but pleaded with Ori to let it go, to forget it, as she was trying to do, and Ori was powerless to resist.

“Alright. In the past, water under the bridge, bygones, all that fun stuff. Now let's get you fed.” Ori said, hopping quickly to h er feet, helping Suzie to stand on shaky legs. She guided her over to her copilot's chair and got her settled, disappearing into the ship's stores to find something suitable for a first meal out of captivity.

“Thanks for picking me up, I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't.” Suzie said, her eyes not really fixed on any one point. It wasn't until Luke turned in his seat that she caught sight of him, a surprised squeak popping out of her mouth as she realized who it was she was talking to.

“I don't think Ori would've ever forgiven me if I didn't.” He flashed his best farm boy smile, watching as her face colored up, her fingers dragging through her dirty hair in an attempt to make it anything but the rat's nest it had become.

“Wow, you're Luke Skywalker. I mean, I figured you were here, in this galaxy I mean, what with the Empire and all being here, but I didn't think I'd actually get to meet you. Oh, I must look like a total mess.” She dragged the edges of the shawl over her skin, serving only to smear the dirt and sweat to new places on her face, and Luke had to bite back a laugh. If Ori's reaction had been interesting, Suzie's was down right odd.

“Hey, relax. I'm just a normal guy. You don't have to impress me.” He said, managing to swallow down all but a single soft chuckle. “You just focus on feeling better.” He turned back to his navi screen, cutting a few corners off their route to speed their way home. Suzie most likely needed a lot of medical attention, and the sooner he got her back to base, the better.

He had to bite his tongue as Ori emerged from the storage room, two pouches of their best instant meal steaming and ready. She whisked Suzie away, taking her back to the bunk room, her bright laugh filling the ship as a muffled “you know Luke Skywalker” echoed back up to him. Yes, this was going to be very interesting.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so that's all for this chapter, see you guys in the next one! Thanks in advance for any kudos/comments, they are much appreciated and I'll try to get to them quickly, though I make no promises lol.


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